England elected to bowl against India in 5th Test

• England won the toss and elected to field.
• James Anderson returns from injury to replace Jamie Overton, who was making his debut.
• Due to coronavirus fears inside the India camp, Friday’s match was postponed.

BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom: England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to field in the fifth Test against India on Friday at Edgbaston.

The hosts made two changes to the lineup that defeated Test world champions New Zealand 3-0 at Headingley on Monday, with all-time top wicket-taker James Anderson returning from an ankle injury to replace Jamie Overton, who was making his debut.

As England’s first-choice wicketkeeper remained unfit, Sam Billings, a Covid replacement for Ben Foakes in Leeds, was once again behind the stumps.

Due to coronavirus fears inside the India camp, Friday’s match was postponed hours before its planned start in Manchester last September.

Only Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow, and Anderson remain from the England team that lost to India at the Oval last year to go 2-1 behind in a five-match series.

Due to the coronavirus, India were without captain Rohit Sharma on Friday, with fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah leading the team for the first time in his absence.

Cheteshwar Pujara, who has not made a century in a Test since early 2019, replaced Rohit at the top of the order after scoring 720 runs in five matches for Sussex earlier this season.

India is attempting to win its first series in England since 2007 and their fourth overall after 1971 and 1986.

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By playing the game, albeit almost a year later in what has become the longest-running Test series in history, India are helping to cover a £40 million ($48 million) financial vacuum that would otherwise exist in English cricket.

Since September, England and Wales Cricket Board CEO Tom Harrison and chairman Ian Watmore have left.

Joe Root is no longer England’s captain and Chris Silverwood is no longer his coach.

Virat Kohli resigned as India captain in February, and Ravi Shastri resigned as India coach in November, with Rahul Dravid taking his position.

England (Playing XI)

Zak Crawley, Alex Lees, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Sam Billings (wkt), Matthew Potts, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, and James Anderson.

India  (Playing XI)

Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wkt), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah (capt).

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