India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: England have won the toss and chosen to bat ahead of the fifth and final Test against India at the picturesque HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. Devdutt Padikkal is making his Test debut in place of Rajat Patidar, who captain Rohit Sharma said picked up an injury. Ravichandran Ashwin, who himself is set to play his 100th Test, handed Padikkal his debut cap. Ashwin was later handed his 100th Test cap in a special ceremony by head coach Rahul Dravid.
When was the last time a Test series saw such a long gap between two games? Can’t recall? Well, neither can we. It’s almost as if the thoughts of a fifth and final Test between India and England had almost vanished. Since India’s five-wicket win in Ranchi, so much has happened. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan’s central contracts were terminated by the BCCI, Shardul Thakur scored his 2nd First-Class century to help Mumbai reach a record 48th Ranji Trophy final, Neil Wagner played his farewell Test for New Zealand and the Women’s Premier League got done with its Bengaluru leg.
After a 10-day gap, the two teams are back to play the final Test of this exciting five-match series in one of the coldest parts of the country – the HPCA Stadium on Dharamsala, where the conditions won’t be easy by any stretch of the imagination. Intense cold has gripped Dharamsala, so much so that even beanies, hoodies and pullovers may not be enough for the players to grapple the chill. The minimum temperature is around 1 degree and the max won’t go beyond 7 or 8 across the next 5 days.
Back to cricket. The Test holds significance for two players in particular. India’s Ravichandran Ashwin and England’s Jonny Bairstow, both of whom are set to play their 100th Test for the country. In a pretty coincidental trivia, both Ashwin and Bairstow had made their debuts against West Indies. India may not want to rest easy despite the series being won as a 4-1 finish can do their chances in the World Test Championships points table a world of good. India, currently leading the WTC table can solidify their position even further at the top.
England have made one change to their Playing XI, replacing Ollie Robinson with Mark Wood, with the two spinners Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley retaining their places. India have maintained the mystery surrounding their Playing XI as always. Will they play three seamers, or two? Will Rajat Patidar be persisted with, or will Devdutt Padikkal become the fifth India to make a debut this series?
The Dharamsala pitch looks to be a belter of a wicket as per Stokes but when it’s nippy, and the bowling attack is a fearsome as these two teams, no amount of flat decks can make batting look easy. However, India would be smacking their lips at the idea of batting first, purely because their batters have had a ball, with young Yashasvi Jaiswal leading the way. In fact, with 655 runs, Jaiswal is just one run away from matching Virat Kohli’s record for the most runs in a bilateral series comprising three Tests or more. And of course, Kohli’s 692 runs are in danger as well, just like Sunil Gavaskar’s 774.
Unfortunately enough, KL Rahul has been ruled out, which is a mystery again in itself given he was 90 percent fit ahead of the start of the third Test. He flew to London for a medial consultation and has returned to the NCA to get fit in time for the IPL, which starts in a little over two weeks. Having said that, do India really need him given how their youngsters have stepped up? Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep have been phenomenal which makes this series a lot like the BGT 2020/21.
As for the bowling, look no further than the return of Jasprit Bumrah. The India pacer, given a break for the Ranchi Test is back, and with overcast conditions awaiting, would be eager to send those crackers in to the England batters early. Partnering him could be Mohammed Siraj, or Akash if the management feels three pacers is the way to go about it. Ideally in Dharamsala, that should be the case, but as the surface spins and deteriorates, the idea of three spinners isn’t that bad either, especially if England bat last. Well, irrespective of that, milestone man Ashwin remains a threat. What an achievement it has been. Even though it hasn’t come sooner like it should have, the entire nation will feel a sense of pride when he walks out for the national anthem. Go well Ash, India is proud of you.
Here are some highlights around IND vs ENG 5th Test, Day 1:
– Devdutt Padikkal is making his Test debut
– Ravichandran Ashwin was handed his 100th Test cap by Rahul Dravid in a special ceremony before the start of play
– Jonny Bairstow was handed his 100th Test cap by Joe Root
– England have won the toss and chosen to bat first
– India have an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series
– India have not lost two matches in a Test series at home since 2012/13
– Ashwin is the 14th Indian to play 100 Test matches
– Bairstow is set to become the 17th England player to earn 100 Test caps
– James Anderson is two away from 700 Test wickets
Follow all the updates here:
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 09:29 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Ashwin given a guard of honour
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: The players walk out and the Indians provide Ashwin a guard of honour after breaking out of their team huddle. They then go to their positions once the spinner walks through it. Jasprit Bumrah has the ball in his hands, Zak Crawley facing up with Ben Duckett at the other end.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 09:25 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Ben Stokes’s thoughts
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Here is a gist of what the England captain said after winning the toss: “We are going to have a bat. You probably have a bat looking at this pitch. It’s another opportunity to represent our country. Great experience for the boys to be part of this series and they have showed great character in their fight. Amazing (Bairstow playing his 100th Test)! Jonny is one of our best ever all format players. 100 Test caps shows his commitment. Nice moment a few minutes ago when he got the cap with his family around. One change for us. Mark Wood comes in.”
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 09:24 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: What Rohit Sharma said
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: This is a gist of what the Indian captain had to say after England won the toss: “We would have batted first as well. We have done really well so far this series and an opportunity to finish on a high. There should be good bounce on this pitch than the games before in this series. Good pitch to bat on and I don’t think it will deteriorate that much. Ash has been a real stalwart of Indian cricket. Such a proud moment for him, his nation and the family. We will be rooting for him to do the magic. Bumrah is back, Akash Deep misses out. Devdutt Padikkal makes his debut as Patidar got injured last evening.”
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 09:17 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Ashwin presented his 100th Test cap
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Head coach Rahul Dravid, who himself played a whopping 164 Tests, has handed a ceremonial cap to Ashwin. His wife and kids are present as well, Ashwin says a few words after receiving the cap.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 09:16 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: India XI
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 09:09 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Bumrah returns for India, Padikkal to make his debut
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Rohit says that Rajat Patidar was injured last night while training. The Indian captain also says that Akash Deep misses out since Jasprit Bumrah has returned.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 09:05 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: TOSS ALERT!
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Ben Stokes has won the toss and said that England have chosen to bat first.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 09:04 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Devdutt Padikkal handed his debut cap!
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Well, well, well, it looks like Rajat Patidar will make way after all. Ravichandran Ashwin has handed Devdutt Padikkal his first Test cap.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 09:01 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Pitch report
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Nick Knight and Sanjay Manjrekar say the same things about the pitch that Ben Stokes had said earlier. “Pitch looks like an absolute belter. The outfield is excellent and it is a smallish ground as well. Should be a good contest between bat and ball.”
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 08:56 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Bairstow handed his 100th Test cap
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Jonny Bairstow had his family there with the rest of the England squad and coaching staff. Joe Root gave a speech and handed Bairstow the milestone Test cap.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 08:44 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Weather update
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: It is about 8 degrees Celsius out there and pretty overcast. However, chances of rain, or snow, are miniscule and so what we might have are very English conditions with the cold and the slight nip in the air.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 08:33 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Stokes on Anderson getting close to 700
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: James Anderson, if you recall, is two wickets away from reaching 700 Test wickets. This is what captain Ben Stokes had to say about that: “700 wickets is phenomenal as a seam bowler. He has had an amazing career up to date and I just can’t see him stopping. I’ve played with Jimmy for a long, long time and I have never seen him look as physically fit as he does right now. Being 41 and still showing the hunger to get better every day is testament to his commitment.”
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 08:19 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: England XI
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: England have brought in Mark Wood in place of Ollie Robinson but stuck to their two-pacer two-spiner combination.
England XI for this Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson, Mark Wood
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 08:09 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Rohit on Rajat Patidar
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: There have been quite a few impressive debuts in this series but that hasn’t really been the case for Rajat Patidar. The 32-year-old has managed scores of 32, 9, 5, 0, 17 and 0 since making his debut in the second Test. But captain Rohit Sharma has indicated that India are ready to give the batter another chance. “Rajat Patidar has very good abilities. I like him. I see him as a talented player. We need to give him some more time,” said Rohit.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 07:52 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Will Stokes bowl?
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: This has been one of the enduring questions of this series, asked more frequently as it wore on. This is what the England captain had to say about the prospect of bowling, considering England could only pick Mark Wood and James Anderson in their pace attack when they were looking to play three seamers. “I think the way in which I’ve gone about that is sort of, if I do bowl, it’s a bonus. Every time, every team selection we’ve gone throughout this tour, it has been with me not considering bowling if that makes sense,” he said.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 07:40 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Will rain (or snow) play spoilsport
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Rain wreaking havoc in a cricket match is nothing new but the more solid form of water causing problems is rare indeed. But, it looked like that could be the case with snow being forecast for the morning of Day 1. That seemed to have cleared up though but the weather has been fickle in Dharamsala in recent days.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 07:29 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: The pitch
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: The pitch is quite wheatish and barren from the looks of it. It is the same one on which a Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Himachal Pradesh was played early last month. Both teams had scored at a good clip in that match and the pacers had made merry.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 07:17 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Rohit on Bazball
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Rohit Sharma was all praise for the way England have played in this series. He didn’t have too much praise for the word that has been used (or overused to put it mildly) to describe how England play nowadays under Stokes and McCullum. “I just don’t know what Bazball means. I haven’t seen wild swinging from anyone. England have played better cricket than they were here last time. But I still don’t know what Bazball means,” he said.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 07:07 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Jaiswal close to 1000
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Yashasvi Jaiswal is 29 away from reaching 1000 Test runs. If he does it in this Test, it will be the second fastest for an Indian in terms of innings after Vinod Kambli, who got there in 14 innings. He will also be the fastest Indian to get to the milestone in terms of matches played (9).
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 06:55 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: 700 loading for Anderson
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Quite a few historic personal milestones coming up in this Test and perhaps the biggest of them all is James Anderson being two wickets away from becoming the first fast bowler, and just the third bowler overall in the history of the game, to reach 700 wickets in Test cricket. England’s evergreen pace wonder is set to play his 186th Test today and has taken 698 wickets at an average of 26.51.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 06:47 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: What the players say about the outfield
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Jonny Bairstow spoke about the outfield in Dharamsala ahead of the match. “I think they’ve done a brilliant job with the field. If you look back at the field from the World Cup, the transition made to produce something like that has been amazing, along with the weather,” he said.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 06:43 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Dharamsala’s outfield
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: The outfield on this ground came under heavy criticism during the 2023 World Cup. This stadium was supposed to host a Test between India and Australia last year before that tournament but it had to be moved out due to inclement weather and the fact that the outfield was simply not ready after the entire stadium went through a round of renovation. This time, though, there seems to be major improvement on that front.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 06:31 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Why history still awaits England
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: India have confirmed a 17th consecutive series win at home but England still have a chance at taking a piece of history back home if they win this fifth Test. No team has been able to win more than one Test in a series in India since England beat them in 2012/13, which was also the last time India did not win a Test series at home. Since then, they have whitewashed teams in 14 of the 17 series played at home.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 06:21 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Indian bowlers with 100 Test caps
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Ashwin is set to become the 14th Indian player to play his 100th Test. Among them though, only four played as bowlers and Ashwin would be the fifth, although he is far more of an all-rounder than any of the others in that list except, of course, the legendary Kapil Dev. Interestingly, Ashwin is also the man with the second highest number of wickets on that list. Anil Kumble has the most Test caps and most wickets at 132 and 619 respectively. Second in terms of appearances comes former captain Kapil with 131 Test caps and 434 wickets. Ishant Sharma is third with 105 caps in which he took 311 wickets while Harbhajan Singh comes fourth with 103 appearances and 417 wickets. Ashwin has taken 507 wickets in 99 Tests.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 06:10 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Eyes on the sky please
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Yes it’s cold. Yes it’s chilly. And yes, there’s some rain on the horizon as well. The game that was expected to be impacted by weather may witness the first interruption as early as Day 1 with some thunderstorms expected today afternoon. And rest assured, with rain the temperature will drop even further. BRRR… The forecast for the next three days look a lot better though. All 4 previous Tests of the series have resulted in Day 4 finished. You never know… we may finally witness a Test match that goes on till the last day.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 06:00 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: In India’s only Test at Dharamsala…
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: They defeated Australia by eight wickets. The only other Test match that India have played in Dharamsala before today was back in 2017, where they registered an 8-wicket win. In a see-saw contest, batting first, Australia put up 300 on the back of captain Steve Smith’s century before India took a slender 32 run lead. In the second innings, Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav ripped through the Australian innings, sharing 9 wickets between them to bundle them out for 137. India, needing 106 to win, knocked it down with ease. Jadeja was named both Player of the Match and Series.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 05:50 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Dharamsala’s road to redemption
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: The HPCA copped a big blow last year when the third Test between India and Australia was moved out of Dharamsala to Indore due to concerns regarding the outfield. This was the second hit the stadium and its city took as way back in 2016 – the marquee India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup clash was rescheduled to Kolkata as well. But last year’s setback hurt them the most. Having hosted its maiden Test match in 2017 – and a rather good one between India and Australia – Dharamsala was gearing up for a second. But it wasn’t to be. Concerns regarding the outfield were also raised during the World Cup a few months back as there were quite a few rough areas on the ground that prevented the fielders from putting in dives. But today, if you are to look at the re-laid lush green outfield, you wouldn’t know. The HPCA Stadium has done a bloody good job to set up the ground and match the standards of some of the best venues in the world.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 05:40 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: And a big congratulations to Jonny Bairstow too
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Not often does it happen that two cricketers play their 100th Test the same day. We’ve already spoken about Ashwin, but it’s now time to shed light on one of England’s very stunning careers – Jonny Bairstow, son of former England wicketkeeper David Bairstow. When he started off, not many gave him a chance, more so when he became one of the most lethal ODI batters in the world, but here is Bairstow, on the cusp of his 100th Test, probably the biggest achievement of his career – the World Cup 2019 win is a stiff No. 1 contender too. The series hasn’t been the greatest given the high standards Jonny has set for himself – 170 runs from 10 innings – but Bairstow would want to change that and spoil the euphoria surrounding Ashwin’s 100th.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 05:30 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Doff your hat to milestone man Ravichandran Ashwin
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: It has taken a bit longer to come, but congratulations to Ravichandran Ashwin for playing his 100th Test today. A true servant of the game, a true warrior, a true fighter, and above all, a true match-winner for India. Move aside the intimidating stats of 500 Test wickets, Ashwin’s career has been one for the film-makers and make no mistake, there will certainly be a biopic made on the man. From emerging on to the scene as a young, lanky off-spinner in 2011 to becoming a bonafide great, Ashwin has been absolutely phenomenal. Just go through his pre-match comments, where Ashwin, the student of the game, talks about his life, game, approach, family and sacrifices… and you will understand the contributions of the man. In India, sadly enough, people didn’t hold their bowlers in the same god-level spotlight like the batters, but Ashwin has managed to change that perception, and with aplomb. Mighty fine achievement, Ash and we can’t wait to see you let rip that first ball in your most cherished century of them all.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 05:20 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: England’s Playing XI out as usual
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: England don’t believe in keeping it a secret until the last moment, do they? While India build suspense around their Playing XI, England have announced theirs with just the one chance. The off-colour Ollie Robinson is out, and Mark Wood is in to partner James Anderson with the new ball. England’s decision of retaining both spinners – Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir – indicate that there might be something in the pitch for the spinners after all. Will India take a cue? Or do they know something more about this surface from their Indian counterparts? Which… well… truth be told, they ideally should, being the home team.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 05:10 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: The chill is in the air
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Dharamsala at this time of the year is usually cold, but this year, it’s a lot colder, chillier and nippier than usual. With temperature hovering between 1 to 5 degrees Celsius, it’s quite possible that this might be the coldest Test match of all time. Players were seen training wearing beanies, pullovers and multiple layers. Then again, you don’t have too many stadiums with a view as breathtaking as the HPCA Stadium, do you? Perhaps the Newlands in South Africa comes close. But that’s it. Check the reactions from the visiting team’s media and its fans, and you’ll get an idea just how close to nature Dharamsala and its stadium is.
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Thu, 07 Mar 2024 05:00 AM
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Hello and welcome
India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: What’s up y’all? In case you forgot. The Anthony de Mello Trophy Test series between India and England is not over yet. Yeah, the 10-day gap between the fourth and the fifth Test may be longer than usual, but there’s one game left in what has been one of the most riveting Test series in recent memories. India haven’t been challenged at home in quite the way England have tested them. The scoreline may read 3-1 to India, but anyone who has seen the game up close and personal, is aware that things have been a lot closer. So as we approach the toss, one final time in this series, how about we make some noise and cherish the beauty that is Test cricket. Right?
Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
