Interested in Cricket Predictions 5th Test IND vs ENG?
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This Test forms part of the truncated Pataudi Trophy series where only four Tests could be played owing to a Covid outbreak in the Indian team.
The Test starts on July 1.
Who are the captains?
Joe Root and Virat Kohli were the captains last time around.
They have been replaced by Ben Stokes and Rohit Sharma who are relatively new captains.
However, due to a Covid attack, Rohit is out of the picture and might be replaced by Jasprit Bumrah.
This is a big honour for Bumrah as he becomes only the second fast bowler to captain India after Kapil Dev.
Series performance
The first Test at Nottingham ended in a draw.
In the 2nd Test at the Oval, England went down 1-0 but bounced back in the third Test at Headingley to level the series.
India completed a stunning victory in the 4th Test to make it 2-1.
A draw or a win will hand over the Pataudi trophy to India.
If England win, they will lift the coveted trophy.
Team News
England will probably go with a similar team that beat the world champions, New Zealand.
Alex Lees and Zak Crawley will open while Ollie Pope will be the No. 3.
Pope will be followed by Root, Bairstow and Ben Stokes.
Jimmy Anderson will make a comeback. Stuart Broad and Matt Potts will support him while Jack Leach will be the lone spinner.
For India, the absence of Rohit Sharma will be a big blow.
Gill will open the innings with Hanuma Vihari but the rest of the team will be on expected lines.
Head to Head record
India and England have played 130 Tests and 50 of those have been a stalemate.
England has won 49 and India came out victors in 31.
However, only 9 of India’s 31 wins have come in English conditions.
India has registered only three away series wins over England.
The last of these was in 2007 when India won the series 1-0 under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid.
The players to watch out for
Joe Root is in the form of his life.
He has already scored 564 runs in 7 innings at an average of 94 and looks good for more.
This includes 3 centuries in the series.
Jasprit Bumrah is explosive even in placid Indian conditions.
On the seaming English pitches, he can be unplayable.
Wearing the skipper’s armband can be an additional motivation to be at his best.
Against England, Bumrah has played 9 Tests and bagged 36 wickets with a best of 5-64.
Virat Kohli is our dark horse.
Though he made just 2 fifties in seven innings, we believe that his hunger to score his 71st career century is at its peak.
He will draw from his successful 2018 tour where he smashed 539 runs with three fifties and two hundreds.
England Likely 11
Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Matty Potts, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, James Anderson
India Likely 11
Hanuma Vihari, Shubham Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
Who will win
It promises to be a cracker of a contest.
English have been revived by the combination of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
They are playing absolutely fearless cricket and managed to beat the Kiwis by playing aggressive T20 cricket in Test matches.
India is ravaged by injury issues.
If India is to save the Test, it will require a superhuman effort from its key batters lie Kohli, Pant or Pujara.
India might go for a draw but that could be a fatal mistake.
A defensive mindset will be a recipe for disaster.
Our prediction is England will win.
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