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The much-anticipated five-match Test series between England and India currently stands 2-1 in favour of the hosts after the fourth Test, which was played at the Emirates Old Trafford from July 23 to July 27, ended in a draw after hard-fought centuries from Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar and a gritty 90-run knock from KL Rahul at the top. However, the series now moves on to the final Test, which will be played from July 31 onwards at the Kia Oval in London.
While the side will be without their key players in Rishabh Pant, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, both of whom have been ruled out due to their respective injuries, they will have a daunting task in order to field their best XI as they eye for a series draw with Jasprit Bumrah also likely to sit out as a part of his workload management.
What do you expect from a debutant, that he should take 10 wickets?: Kapil Dev on Anshul Kamboj
With Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, accompanied by the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj and Shardul Thakur boasting of India’s pace strength in the ongoing series, a call on who gets a nod ahead of the others will be seen as the Indian team takes the field on Thursday. But ahead of the crucial Test, former India captain and 1983 World Cup winner, Kapil Dev defended debutant Anshul Kamboj, who finished with the figures of 1/89 in his 18-over spell in the fourth Test.
Speaking at the launch of second-half of Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), Dev said, "What do you expect from a debutant, that he should take 10 wickets? You have to assess his potential. If he's good enough, he will bounce back. Everyone is nervous when playing their first game. The result may not be ideal, but I believe the ability is there, and that's more important.”
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Furthermore, the former India cricketer also stood in support of Shubman Gill, who recently took over the reins from Rohit Sharma as Team India’s Test captain. "Give him time. This is his first series, he will commit mistakes and there will be many positives over the period of time, he will learn. There is no problem if he is learning. There will be mistakes, but he is learning from his mistakes, that is very important," he added.
India’s updated squad for fifth Test
Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh, N Jagadeesan (WK).
