India’s Perfect XI Still Unclear Heading Into The Oval Showdown

The marathon five-match Test series between India and England is heading into its final chapter at The Oval, but India are still wrestling with one big question – what’s their best eleven? The Old Trafford draw gave them some relief after staring down the barrel, but it also exposed fresh concerns ahead of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy decider that begins on July 31.

The biggest setback is Rishabh Pant’s absence. The wicketkeeper fractured his foot during the Manchester Test and has been ruled out of the finale. Dhruv Jurel, who has already shown promise with both gloves and bat, looks set to step in. The BCCI named Tamil Nadu’s Narayan Jagadeesan as a squad replacement, but he is unlikely to get the nod ahead of Jurel for the XI. 

Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management adds another wrinkle. India’s spearhead, who was pencilled in for three Tests on this tour, has already played his quota and will sit out the finale. Skipper Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir were both asked after Old Trafford whether Bumrah might play one more, but neither offered clarity. All signs now point to Akash Deep returning to the XI. The pacer, who impressed with 10 wickets at Edgbaston, missed the fourth Test with a groin issue but is expected to be fit in time. 

At Old Trafford, India brought in Shardul Thakur and Anshul Kamboj for Akash Deep and the injured Nitish Reddy, but neither made much impact with the ball. The decision to lengthen the batting at the cost of a strike bowler backfired when England piled on more than 600 runs – something that hadn’t happened to India in a decade. That collapse of the bowling unit has sharpened calls for Kuldeep Yadav to finally get a game. The left-arm wrist-spinner has been waiting in the wings for more than a month, and with The Oval historically offering some assistance for spin, he is hard to ignore. 

Arshdeep Singh is another player waiting for an opening. Fully recovered from a hand injury, he has travelled with the squad throughout and would love nothing more than to make his Test debut in the finale of such a riveting series. The question is whether India will continue prioritising batting depth down to No. 8, or if they will finally gamble on an extra bowler to provide genuine wicket-taking bite. 

It’s been a fiercely contested series, with both sides trading blows. India bounced back at Edgbaston after losing the opener, England nicked a thriller at Lord’s, and Manchester ended in a gritty stalemate. That leaves everything hanging in the balance heading into The Oval. 

For India, it comes down to one decision: do they stick with their safety-first template, or roll the dice on a bowler like Kuldeep to force a result? With Pant and Bumrah out, the combination suddenly looks trickier than ever. But if India want to finish this series with a win, bold calls might be the only way forward.