• Source:JND
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India vs England 5th Test: India legend Sunil Gavaskar stated that England's pitch choice for the final Test was controlled by their depleted bowling lineup after the side had to rest Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse for the 5th and final Test against India.

Without the pace trio of Stokes, Archer, and Carse included in the playing XIs, England's bowling attack was severely weakened, leading Gavaskar to indicate that the hosts might be depending on the pitch to do the heavy lifting.

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“Arrey unke paas koi bowling hi hain nahi (They don’t have much of a bowling attack). This is why they have made such a pitch. Stokes has taken wickets, Archer has taken wickets and Carse has taken wickets. If they are not in your team, who will take wickets? This is why they have made such a pitch so that it helps bowlers like Tongue and Co,” Gavaskar said on Sony Sports on Thursday.

Earlier, the ECB announced the England playing XI for the Oval Test, revealing that Stokes, Archer, Dawson, and Carse were ruled out due to injury. The side included Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, and Josh Tongue in the Playing XI, with Ollie Pope taking the captaincy charge.

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Talking about the match, England stand-in captain Ollie Pope won the toss and opted to bowl first India in the fifth and final Test of the series at The Oval on Thursday.

Trailing 1-2, India made four changes to their playing XI, bringing in Dhruv Jurel, Karun Nair, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna in place of injured Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj and Jasprit Bumrah.