With the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy on the line, India and England head to London for the fifth and last Test of the five-match Test series, set to start from Thursday, July 31. Both teams will need to address multiple injury concerns ahead of the fifth Test, where the turnaround time is the lowest in the two-month tour.
For India, the headache is much bigger with Rishabh Pant fracturing his toe during the Manchester Test. Pacers Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh are injured, Jasprit Bumrah has to manage his workload, and it’s uncertain whether he will play the Oval Test or not. England, too, will be worried for their pace attack which has seen Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse and Ben Stokes bowling relentlessly for the four Tests on the bounce.
But the biggest concern would be whether to play Jofra Archer in the Oval Test or not. Archer made his red-ball comeback for the national side after more than four years after persistent injuries and played the last two Tests for England in the series. Former England cricketer Stuart Broad feels Archer should not feature in the final Test and should be rested.
“We can’t not have Archer for four years, bring him back and then bowl him into the ground and not see him for another four years,” said Broad to Sky Sports.
“(Josh) Tongue started the series, and I know he mainly got lower-order players out, but you probably have a natural replacement for Archer,” he added on the potential replacement for Archer.
Broad also said Gus Atkinson should make it into the England XI in place of Carse.
“I think Gus Atkinson has to play. I know he has not had any workload, but we need to see him. He hasn’t been really challenged against top-level opposition in Test cricket yet. (Brydon) Carse looked knackered in the fourth Test. He has been a trier and given absolutely everything, but looks like his legs have left him for this series, so Atkinson gets the nod,” he said.
