India were struggling at 85/3 as rain interrupted play for the second time in the middle of the afternoon session on the first day of the fifth and final Test match against England at The Oval on Thursday.
Just before play was halted due to rain, skipper Shubman Gill, who was looking good at 21, committed a suicidal runout by trying to take a single which was not there. The costly run-out left Gill visibly distraught. Sai Sudharsan, at the other end, was batting at 28. Gill and Sudarshan put up 47 runs for the third wicket before Gill’s unfortunate dismissal.
Earlier, heavy rain lashed The Oval when India were 72/2, forcing an early lunch. This happened moments after Gill surpassed Sunil Gavaskar’s 47-year-old record. After the break, Gill and Sai Sudharsan recalibrated their approach, taking time to assess the changed conditions before settling back into their innings.
In the early morning session, Chris Woakes brought an end to KL Rahul’s gritty knock, getting him out for 14 off 40 deliveries and leaving India in a spot of bother at 38 for 2. Rahul, who had been focused on steadying the innings after an early setback, chopped the ball on to the stumps. KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan steadied India’s innings with a composed partnership, capitalising on a brief dip in intensity from England to shift momentum back in the visitors’ favour. The first to go was Yashasvi Jaiswal, who fell lbw cheaply for just two runs as England capitalised on the overcast conditions to apply early pressure on the Indian top order.
England stand-in skipper Ollie Pope won the toss and chose to bowl, hoping to make early inroads under bowler-friendly conditions. England are without their regular skipper, Ben Stokes.
While India made four changes to their playing XI for the final Test, Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh remained on the sidelines yet again. Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur and Anshul Kamboj were replaced in the playing XI by Karun Nair, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and Dhruv Jurel.
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