Without a specialist spinner, England will meet India in the fifth and final Test match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 at the KIA Oval in London. Ollie Pope, the stand-in captain, made a joke about not having a frontline spinner on his team near the end of Day 2.
In the final session, play was halted for forty-five minutes due to rain that fell on the scenic setting. When play restarted, poor lighting spoilt the last few minutes. Three catches were lost by England’s fielders, who appeared to be having trouble seeing the ball in the dim light.
Since the light wasn’t good enough for the pacers to continue, umpire Kumar Dharmasena asked Ollie Pope whether he would be willing to bowl spinners. “I have no spinner in my side,” the right-handed batsman joked.
You’ll bowl spin. Otherwise, we’ll go out,” Dharmasena said.
Spin? Don’t have a spinner. No, I’m joking.””Fast bowling? Ya. No spin,” Ollie Pope said.
All that happened in the lead-up to stumps… 🗣 #SonySportsNetwork #ENGvIND #NayaIndia #DhaakadIndia #TeamIndia #ExtraaaInnings pic.twitter.com/rfbwSORq6g
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) August 1, 2025
Jacob Bethell, an all-round spin bowler, has been selected by England for the fifth Test match. However, the youthful player only bowled a few overs in the first innings due to the Oval’s seam-friendly conditions. India took a 52-run advantage at the end of Day 2 and concluded at 75/2.
At 51 off 49 balls, Yashasvi Jaiswal finished undefeated. Sai Sudharsan and KL Rahul, on the other hand, were cheaply dismissed by England. England was knocked out for 247 in 51.2 overs earlier in the day. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna both claimed four wickets. Harry Brook and Zak Crawley both gave the Three Lions half-centuries.
To make it easy for the batters to follow, India’s overnight hitters, Jaiswal and Akash Deep, would want to add a few runs during the morning session.
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