ENG vs IND 2025 5th Test, Toss Update: England wins the toss and elected to bowl first

Shubman Gill, captain of Team India, again lost the toss. For the 5th test of the series, in the absence of Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope is the captain of team England. He won the toss and, as was expected before, chose to bowl first. The pitch is green at The Oval, and conditions are mostly favorable for the bowlers. 

Former cricketer, now a cricket expert and commentator, Deep Dasgupta informed that the 22-yard has got 8 mm of grass and the topsoil is not dry due to the rainy conditions. He also opined that these are the most bowling-friendly conditions in the entire series. 

After the 4 matches of the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy, England is leading the competition by 2-1. It is a must-win game for Team India to make it 2-2. But the conditions and atmosphere are not looking in their favor. There was rain before the toss, clouds were above the field, and the pitch is grass. With the new ball, England will try to do as much damage as possible in a quick manner. 

Read More: Gill was solid, Jaiswal on song- Net bowler reports about team India's preparation for ENG vs IND 5th Test

"We are not content with a 2-2 scoreline, and we want to go out and win it," Ollie Pope said after winning the toss. 

ENG vs IND 5th Test Playing XIs: 

India (Playing XI)—Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Karun Nair (in for Shardul Thakur), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK) (in for Rishabh Pant), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep (in for Jasprit Bumrah), Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna (in for Anshul Kamboj).

England (Playing XI)—Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (C), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell (in for Ben Stokes), Jamie Smith (WK), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson (in for Jofra Archer), Jamie Overton (in for Liam Dawson), and Josh Tongue (in for Brydon Carse).