London: England cricket captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the fifth and deciding Test against India with a shoulder injury, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Wednesday. Pacer Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse are also being rested.
Vice-captain Ollie Pope will now lead the side in the match at the Oval starting Thursday. With England 2-1 up in the five-Test series, it has nothing to lose. India, at best, can draw the series.
Stokes has struggled with various fitness issues during a series in which he has sent down 140 overs – the most he has bowled in any series. He is the leading wicket-taker on either side with 17 scalps, according to Sportstar.
“I am obviously disappointed to not be able to finish the series,” Stokes said during a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
“I have got a decent tear of one of the (shoulder) muscles I can’t pronounce, I don’t know how to say it, but we took as long as we could to make that decision around that. A bit of emotion goes into this kind of stuff when you find out what you have done — bowling was ruled out as soon as we got the scan results,” The 34-year-old, whose career has been blighted by hamstring trouble, added.
“But you need that time chatting with the medical team, Baz (England coach Brendon McCullum), then just 20 minutes to myself out there in the morning just to really be clear around the decision that we made,” he said.
England has made four changes after a gruelling drawn fourth Test at Old Trafford, with Jacob Bethell, Josh Tongue and the Surrey pair of Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton all coming into the side.
Spin-bowling all-rounder Bethell makes his first Test appearance of the year, effectively as a replacement for Stokes. England will go into the match without a specialist spinner with Liam Dawson’s return to Test cricket after eight years, lasting just one match.
England’s playing 11 will be Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue, it was announced.
