In a cracker of a contest India take on revitalised England as Ben Stokes-led side won the toss and elected to bowl first in the rearranged fifth Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Friday (July 1)..
"India captain: It's a good feeling (to be captain) and is a big privilege. Can't get better than this. Excited and looking forward to this. Very happy with the preparation. Wanted to spend a lot of time and get used to the English conditions, as we came back from T20s. Happy with the preparation, now it's for the mental side to take over. Four bowlers - myself, Siraj, Shardul and Shami along with Jaddu as the all-rounder," India's stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah said before the match.
"England captain: We're gonna have a bowl. We've done well chasing and it's also to see how the wicket will behave. It's obviously good to come into a new series so quickly. Gives us the opportunity to keep the momentum rolling. We're going to keep the same attitude going," England captain Ben Stokes said after winning the toss.
Meanwhile Joe Root spoke on England's new approach as he said, "I don't think we've found that line yet because we haven't hit a speed bump yet. But the confidence at clarity at 55 for 6 shows the ability and approach is there from 1 to 11, and that's a powerful thing. One thing that's slid under the radar is that we've taken 20 wickets in three Test matches. We're understanding different periods of the game and putting it back on them when we get the chance."
The rescheduled fifth Test will act as a decider for the five-Test series that started in July 2021. India were leading 2-1 and before they could take on England in the fifth Test in Manchester, their contingent was hit with a series of COVID-19 cases and eventually the match was deferred. Both Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the England Cricket Board (ECB) mutually decided to reschedule the fifth Test in 2022, where India were already scheduled to play white-ball fixtures.
England, led by Ben Stokes, have been in sensational form, having recently won 3-0 against reigning World Test Championship winners New Zealand.
India's Playing XI:
Jasprit Bumrah(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, .
England's Playing XI:
Zak Crawley, Alex Lees, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Sam Billings (wk), Matthew Potts, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, James Anderson.
