Overview

• England captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the fifth Test with a torn shoulder muscle, leading to Ollie Pope’s appointment as stand-in captain alongside three other changes to the home side’s XI India vice-captain Rishabh Pant will miss the Oval Test with a foot fracture and Jasprit Bumrah is being rested after three matches, prompting Dhruv Jurel’s elevation behind the stumps and calls for Akash Deep or uncapped Arshdeep Singh
• Ben Stokes publicly criticised the compressed five-Test schedule, highlighting uneven gaps between matches that have also kept Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse out of the decider
• Head coach Gautam Gambhir was involved in a vocal confrontation with Surrey groundsman Lee Fortis over use of the main square during India’s training session
• Aishwarya Dwivedi warned against politicising the Pahalgam terror attack and denounced proposed India-Pakistan cricket ties, injecting security and political debate into the series finale