London on July 30, 2025 — A devastating setback to England in the lead up to their fifth test game in the series against India on The Oval, captain Ben Stokes is out with shoulder injuries to the right. The decisive game of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy starts on June 31st, with Ollie Pope taking over as captain.
Stokes Ruled Out – Injury Details
The all-rounder that has proved England’s top performer throughout the series suffered a tear to his muscle at the end of the third Test. He bowled 35 of his overs following India batted 143 runs over five sessions. He was clearly suffering from shoulder discomfort.
“I’ve got a decent tear of one of the muscles that I can’t pronounce,” Stokes said to reporters.
“We weighed up the risk vs reward — and the risk of further damage was too high.”
Stokes completes the series with 17 wickets and 304 run runs — the most by any bowler to date with five wickets and an unbeaten century in Manchester.
England XI Announced – 4 Big Changes
Gutted for the skipper, who misses out on our final Test of the summer 🙏 pic.twitter.com/LgtwXPqntE
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 30, 2025
England have announced their playing Five-Test XI, with four major modifications:
OUT: Ben Stokes (injured), Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Liam Dawson
IN: Jacob Bethell, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue
England Playing XI for 5th Test vs India:
Zak Crawley
Ben Duckett
Ollie Pope (Captain)
Joe Root
Harry Brook
Jacob Bethell
Jamie Smith (Wicketkeeper)
Chris Woakes
Gus Atkinson
Jamie Overton
Josh Tongue
Series So Far
England leads the five-match series 1-1
The team won: Leeds (by 5 wickets) Lord’s (thriller)
India’s sole win was the Birmingham Test, in which they hammered England with 336 runs in Shubman Gil’s captaincy
The Oval Record: India’s Struggle
India have had a history of struggles in the past at The Oval. In 15 games they’ve only scored 2 victories:
1971 under Ajit Wadekar
2021 under Virat Kohli
