‘Took as long as we could to make the decision’: Ben Stokes ruled out of fifth India vs England Test with shoulder injury, Ollie Pope to captain

England were handed a massive blow before the fifth India vs England Test at the Oval in London with captain Ben Stokes being ruled out due to an injury to his right shoulder, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Wednesday. Stokes is one of the four changes England have announced to their playing XI for the final Test.

A statement from ECB announcing the England playing XI for the Oval Test said that besides Stokes, Jofra Archer, Liam Dawson, and Brydon Carse will also miss the game in London. Taking their place in the XI will be Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue with Ollie Pope captaining the team. ECB said that Bethell will bat at No 6.

“We took as long as we could to make the decision,” Stokes said. “I came down [to the Oval] this morning to give myself every chance just to play as a batter – bowling was ruled out as soon as we got the scan results. It’s one of those where weighing up the risk and reward, the risk was way too high. Hearing where it could head to, it wasn’t something that was worth taking a risk on. I wouldn’t expect to put any of my players at risk of an injury like this. So I’ll start rehabbing now and focus on what we’ve got coming up in the winter. Once this series was done I was feet up anyway, so it doesn’t make too much difference.”

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Stokes has been crucial to England’s fortunes in the series against India. Not only is he the leading wicket-taker in the series with 17 scalps, he also scored his first Test century in two years in Manchester in the previous Test. Stokes was the Player of the Match in the last two Tests. The injury is the latest setback for the all-rounder after he was sidelined by two hamstring tears last year.

The fate of the India vs England series hangs on the fifth Test with England ahead with a 2-1 margin.

India are also expected to name a replacement for the injured Rishabh Pant for the final Test.

Stokes was in the centre of controversy at the end of the fourth Test at Manchester when he tried to persuade India’s Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar to accept a draw early while both Indian players were approaching their centuries.

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The Indians declined which led to words being exchanged and even a refusal to shake hands.

Stokes was criticized for his role in the confrontation.

England XI for fifth Test

1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope (capt), 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jacob Bethell, 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Gus Atkinson, 10 Jamie Overton, 11 Josh Tongue

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