England vs India's 5th test gonna be consolation win for Alastair Cook’s farewell Test. A week after England took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match Test series at Southampton on Day 4 after defeating the visitors by 60 runs, India would aim for redemption in the fifth and the final match at The Oval, which starts from Friday. This match will also be the final appearence for former England captain Alastair Cook. Cook has told on social media it will be his last test of his life.

Beating India 4-1 would be a strong statement, perfect send off for Alastair Cook: Joe Root

Having lost two series outside the sub-continent, first in South Africa earlier this year and now in England, team India under Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri has failed to attain the title of ‘best travelling side’, as claimed by the coach himself. The only positive that the side has achieved in Kohli’s era is retaining the number one Test ranking despite series’ losses in both overseas tours in 2018 thus far.

Teams:

India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

England: Joe Root (c), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Oliver Pope, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes.