ENG vs IND, 5th Test Preview – India aim for series victory against power-packed England

Confident-looking team England will take on the Indian side in a rescheduled Test slated to start in Birmingham on July 1 (Friday). The Three Lions thrashed the visitors New Zealand in a three match Test series under the leadership of new skipper Ben Stokes. The home team played an aggressive brand of cricket and were a better side in all aspects of the game as compared to their opponents.

Former skipper Joe Root played some excellent knocks in the series, but Jonny Bairstow played a different brand of cricket and shocked the Kiwi bowling line-up. The Three Lions will back themselves to win the Test match against India and level the series.

Talking about India, the visitors have their own set of problems with skipper Rohit Sharma being in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19. He was excellent during India’s last tour of England but will miss the game. Jasprit Bumrah shall lead the side in his absence. Former skipper Virat Kohli showed some signs of good form as he stroked an excellent fifty during the practice game against Leicestershire.

The wicket at Edgbaston is a good sporting wicket with help for both batters and bowlers. Team batting first, will need to play the new ball patiently before playing their shots. Skipper winning the toss might prefer to bowl first.

Here’s the predicted playing XI for England vs India:

England

The Three Lions have announced their playing XI already with veteran James Anderson returning in place of Jamie Overton. Wicketkeeper-batter Ben Foakes isn’t playing after contracting COVID-19 during the third Test against New Zealand. Sam Billing is playing in place of him.

Predicted Playing XI: Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Sam Billings (wk), Stuart Broad, Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, James Anderson.

India

India will be without their prominent batter and skipper Rohit Sharma. Team India will need to figure out their opening combination for the all-important match. Rest of the players pick themselves but it remains to be seen if Ravi Ashwin makes it to the XI.

Predicted Playing XI: Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah (C)