India make 204/6 on rain-hit day one after Bumrah chose to sit out
India trail the five-match Test series 1-2 going into the fifth and final game at The Oval.
India trail the five-match Test series 1-2 going into the fifth and final game at The Oval.
India trail the five-match Test series 1-2 going into the fifth and final game at The Oval.
India struggled to 204/6 on a rain-hit opening day of the fifth Test against England at The Oval on Thursday. Stand-in captain Ollie Pope won the toss and opted to bowl with the visitors needing to win to avoid a series defeat.
Karun Nair, one of the four changes to the Indian XI, scored an unbeaten 52, while Washington Sundar made 19 not out to give India hope. England leads the series 2-1.
India batters found it difficult to score freely on a pitch that produced variable bounce in between frequent rain delays. A freak run out of captain Shubman Gill (21) made matters worse. Gus Atkinson, who replaced injured skipper Ben Stokes, effected the run out and also picked up a pair of wickets.
Earlier, there was no change of mind from Jasprit Bumrah, who had been ruled out on the eve of the match to manage his workload. But a series of forced changes following injuries to Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur paved the way for the return of Karun and Dhruv Jurel. Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna have replaced Anshul Kamboj and Bumrah.
Brief scores: India 204/6 in 64 overs (Karun Nair 52 not out, Sai Sudharsan 38, Shubman Gill 21, Gus Atkinson 2/31, Josh Tongue 2/47) Stumps on Day 1