Captains Ollie Pope of England and Shubman Gill of India toss the coin ahead of Day One of the 5th Rothesay Test Match at The Kia Oval on July 31, 2025 in London, England.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images
England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope won the toss for the fifth Test against India at the Oval in London on July 31, 2025, opting to bowl first.
Pope is standing in for the injured Ben Stokes in the final match of the Test series against India, which currently stands at 2-1 in favour of the hosts.
On a cloudy day, India has made four changes to the team that drew the fourth Test in Manchester. Dhruv Jurel is in for the injured Rishabh Pant, Karun Nair comes in for Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna replaces the rested Jasprit Bumrah and pace bowler Akash Deep is in for Anshul Kamboj.
England has rested pace spearhead Jofra Archer.
India have now lost 15 tosses in a row but skipper Shubman Gill said he does not mind losing the toss as long as they win the match.
“It is a bit overcast, but the wicket looks good. Post good runs in the first innings and let’s see then what happens from there,” Gill said. “Our bowlers are very much ready for this contest and it looks like a good wicket for the bowlers. So, hopefully, everyone will chip in.”
England lead the series 2-1 after winning the first and third tests at Headingley and Lord’s, respectively, while India won the second test at Edgbaston. The fourth test at Old Trafford ended in a draw.
Teams
India: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, and Mohammed Siraj.
England: Ollie Pope (c), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, and Josh Tongue.
Published – July 31, 2025 03:25 pm IST