The fifth and final Test between India and England remains on a knife edge as England need 35 runs and India need four wickets to clinch a stunning win at The Oval. Chasing a huge total of 374, England were assisted by batting stars veteran batter Joe Root and Harry Brook, who both demonstrated their batting pyrotechnics, stitching an excellent fourth-wicket partnership of 195 to give England hope of completing a massive win. However, bad lights stopped the play early on day 4, but the match will reach its climax on day 5 (Monday) when both sides fight it out in the nail-biting thriller.
Meanwhile, at the end of day four, the Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel was asked the reason behind fielding three seamers. On top of this, there has been a growing discussion surrounding Kuldeep Yadav’s absence from the playing XI, as he was expected to lead India’s spin-bowling attack ahead of the series.
“To be honest with you, that’s part of the conversation before every selection so far. And we just felt leading into the Test matches, if you look at the wicket and sort of the overhead conditions for the first three days, we felt that going with the extra batter was going to be important. I think in the last two Test matches, our force team didn't really bowl that much because Washi and Jadeja also could end up and bowl some overs,” Morkel said during the press conference.
“And yeah, they just thought, okay, having a lot of extra runs on the board was more important. But I think that’s something we’ll obviously reflect on after the tour. The things we could have done better,” Morkel said.
Morkel lauded Mohammed Siraj for his outstanding efforts with the ball.
"I'm very happy for Siraj that he's getting the recognition," Morkel said.
"He's a guy that in the changing room that will always lead the way, and I think he's a natural leader, although vocally he doesn't speak a lot.”
"I think he leads a lot of actions in this series. So far, he's done it with the ball at times that we've needed somebody to put his hand up and create something; even if it was bowling an extra two overs, three overs or creating opportunity for us, he's been that guy. So he's put in the effort and it's just nice to see the rewards."
"And today, again, at the backend, stepping up, getting the support behind the team to lift us in the crucial moments. It's those sort of smart plays that you need. And for me Siraj has just been outstanding."