Having taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series with a 60-run victory at Southampton, England has announced a 13-man squad for the fifth and final Test against India starting on Friday (September 7) at the Kia Oval.
The fifth Test will incidentally be former skipper and England’s highest run-scorer Alastair Cook’s farewell game for his country.
Batsman James Vince has been released from the squad with Jonny Bairstow recovering enough to play as a specialist batsman.
Olliver Pope will join the squad on Thursday after playing the first two days of Surrey’s county game against Essex in Chelmsford.
Meanwhile, Chris Woakes remains in the squad after missing the fourth Test with a quad injury and will be assessed in the lead-up to the game. He was seen bowling in the middle on the morning’s before play in Southampton and he may come into contention although England will not risk him if there is any doubt about his fitness ahead of a busy red and white-ball winter.
England Test squad:
Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wk), Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes
