India and England are tussling hard in the final Test of the series at the Kennington Oval. The first day of the Test saw a green deck with an overcast weather demanding better of the Indian team as they were asked to bat first by the England captain, Ollie Pope.

The Day 1 however, was marred some rain just after the first session. The play was halted for almost one hour before the start of the second session. On Day 2 the same story might continue with overcast conditions.

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The temperature will hover around 21 degree celsius and thunderstorms and showers are expected in the afternoon. Amidst the spell of rains, humidity will make its way making it tough for the batters to acclimatise with the changing conditions.   

After drawing the last Test against England, India would like to win the fifth Test and level the series 2-2. They have a good shot at this prospect as England will enter the fifth Test with some major changes to their playing XI from the Manchester Test. One such would be losing out on the services of their captain Ben Stokes, who is nursing a shoulder injury.

On the other hand, when in England, weather plays a crucial role and so does the bowlers. Indian bowlers are succumbing to injuries but they look formidable when compared to the tweaked England XI. Speaking of the weather, the weather will be cloudy and one can expect showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. The temperature will be as high as 23 degree celsius and can fluctuate with timely showers.

Pitch report

The pitch is covered with ample grass and green tinge is visible from the far look. This will make the role of bowlers even more crucial as both the teams rely heavily on their pace battery. The team winning the toss will likely to choose bowl first and take the early advantage going into the game.

See Also: Major updated from Gill ahead of fifth Test

IND vs ENG 5th Test Predicted Playing XI:

England (announced XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue

India predicted XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna

Indian captain Shubman Gill added another feather to his hat in the ongoing series against England. He became the first Asian batter to complete 700 runs in a series in England. It is worth noting that Gill is in the form of his life scoring back to back centuries in both innings of the second Test which included a double century. 

After India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan’s wickets early, the onus fell on Gill and KL Rahul to do the patch work. Both the batters together stitched a 188 run partnership for the third wicket before Rahul was outdone on 90 runs by Ben Stokes. Gill on the other hand, dug his base deeper and is eying for a big inning with India still to clear the deficit. He is accompanied by Washington Sundar in a bid to keep the left and right combination going in the middle. 

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As Gill achieved the rare feat by an Asian batter, twitter users went berserk in praising the new Indian Test captain for his skill and impeccable consistency. It is also worth noting that Gill’s 269 run knock in the second Test was the highest score by any Indian captain in England overtaking Mohammed Azaharuddin’s 179 runs knock. 

🚨 SHUBMAN GILL BECOMES THE FIRST ASIAN BATTER TO COMPLETE 700 RUNS IN A SERIES IN ENGLAND 🚨

- Captain on a Roll, What a Batter. 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/l8oom6es0R

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 27, 2025

Here’s how Twitter users reacted to Gill’s feat: 

The Legendary Sunil Gavaskar Supremacy!! Shubman Gill has the chance to top the list. #ENGvsIND #ShubmanGill pic.twitter.com/u93vCpV9E0

— Just Cricket 🇮🇳 (@forjustcricket) July 26, 2025

From the boy who debuted with flair to the man who’s rewriting records Captain Gill has truly arrived. 💯🔥

— Shubh "Duggal Sahab" (@shubh_lavbh) July 27, 2025 

700 runs? Bhai yeh Manchester ka Maharaja hai! 💥

— Breaking Bol (@BreakingBol) July 27, 2025

Captain Leading From The Front

— Md Nagori (@Sulemannagori23) July 27, 2025

The beginning of the Prince ERA pic.twitter.com/iiLRJTCTbN

HISTORY MADE! 🇮🇳🔥 Shubman Gill becomes the first Asian to smash 700+ runs in a series in England — captain, leader, legend in the making! 💯🚀

— The Bakchod Bro🚩 (@thebackchodbro) July 27, 2025

— mono (@mono_nft) July 27, 2025

Former England captain, Joe Root brought up his 38th Test century in the ongoing fourth Test between India and England at the Old Trafford, Manchester. He not only touched a milestone, he moved closer to another milestone of breaking the record for most runs in Tests set by the legendary Indian batter, Sachin Tendulkar. 

He also challenged the record for most runs set by former Australia captain, Ricky Ponting. Ponting who was in the commentary panel was all praises for the veteran and he noted the right handed batter’s career as remarkable. It is worth noting that Ponting has scored 13,378 runs in Tests and is only second to Tendulkar in the list of top run getters in the longest format of the game. 

“Batting conditions probably won’t get any better than they are right now and they’ve got two class players at the crease (in Pope and Root). England will have gone to bed last night thinking about the possibility of only batting once in this Test match.”

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“They want to bat long and get a huge first-innings total. India need to find a way early to get back into this game with early wickets, otherwise this game is slipping away very quickly. “That could very well happen today (Root passing him on all-time run-scorers list). It’s a great day for batting. What a remarkable career it has been,” said Ricky Ponting on Sky Sports’ broadcast.

As its stands out, Root did surpass the record of Ponting as he breached the 120 runs mark in the ongoing Test and the batter looked in solid form and eyeing for a lump sum score against his name. For the unversed, Sachin Tendulkar has scored 15,921 runs in his illustrious careers spanning over two decades and Root, if he keeps his form intact, can overtake the legend in achieving the rare milestone. 

Team India's star cricketer Shreyas Iyer is always watched closely by his fans. On the morning of July 15, as soon as Iyer was seen at Mumbai airport, the cameras quickly captured him.

Usually, the airport looks and celebrity presence become a topic of discussion, but this time the situation was different. In the viral video, Iyer’s eyes and facial expressions looked unusual, which created curiosity and many speculations on social media.

Shreyas Iyer Spotted at Mumbai Airport, Video Goes Viral

In a video going viral on social media, Shreyas Iyer’s eyes and facial expressions at the Mumbai airport said a lot without using any words. In one frame of the video, a girl is seen standing at some distance from Iyer. This moment has received many reactions from social media users.

Iyer did not make any public comment about this moment. There is also no confirmation about the girl or her identity.

मुंबई एयरपोर्ट वायरल गर्ल के साथ दिखे क्रिकेटर श्रेयस अय्यर

◆ वीडियो हुआ सोशल मीडिया पर वायरल, वजह थी उनके फ्रेम में नज़र आई एक युवती और अय्यर के एक्सप्रेशंस#MumbaiAirport | #ShreyasIyer | Shreyas Iyer | #viralvideo pic.twitter.com/5nWeHmPOAO

— News24 (@news24tvchannel) July 17, 2025

Fans React to Iyer’s Expressions

In the video, Iyer is seen looking a bit uncomfortable but smiling slightly. His expressions did not go unnoticed. The clip has received thousands of likes and millions of views on Instagram. One user jokingly said, “Brother is trapped in love!” Another user added, “Iyer must have checked Instagram to see if the girl messaged or not.”

Some even claimed that the girl could be his future girlfriend. One user wrote, “Keep this clip safe, she might become his girlfriend later.” Others guessed she could be a staff member. The video has created a lot of curiosity and fun guesses.

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Shreyas Iyer’s Cricket Career So Far

Shreyas Iyer has shown his talent in all formats of the game – Tests, ODIs, T20s, and IPL. In Test cricket, he has scored 811 runs in 14 matches, with one century and five fifties. His average is 36.86 and his strike rate is 63.02. In ODIs, Iyer has scored 2845 runs in 70 matches at an average of 48.22 and a strike rate of 100. He has five centuries and 22 fifties.

In T20 Internationals, he has scored 1104 runs in 51 matches, with an average of 30.67 and a strike rate of 136.13. In the IPL, Iyer has scored 3731 runs in 132 matches, with a strike rate of 133.35. He has scored 27 fifties in the league.