LONDON: England captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the fifth and deciding Test against India with a shoulder injury in a devastating blow for the home side.

The England and Wales Cricket Board said vice-captain Ollie Pope would lead the team in the match at the Oval beginning on Thursday, with England 2-1 up in the series.

All-rounder Stokes has struggled with various fitness issues in the four Tests against India so far, during which he has sent down 140 overs — the most he has bowled in any series.

The 34-year-old, who is the leading wicket-taker on either side with 17 scalps, has injured his right shoulder — his bowling arm — and it is understood he could need up to 10 weeks to recover.

“I am obviously disappointed to not be able to finish the series,” an emotional Stokes told reporters on Wednesday. “I have got a decent tear of one of the [shoulder] muscles I can’t pronounce.

“A bit of emotion goes into this kind of stuff when you find out what you have done — bowling was ruled out as soon as we got the scan results.

“It’s one of those where it was weighing up the risk reward, and the risk was way too high for damaging this any further than it currently is. I wouldn’t expect to put any of my other players at risk with an injury like this.”

The drawn fourth match of the series at Old Trafford, which ended on Sunday, was a personal triumph for Stokes, who became just the fourth England cricketer to score a hundred and take five wickets in the same Test.

But that came at a cost as the talismanic all-rounder, whose career has been blighted by hamstring trouble, struggled with a number of fitness issues.

India lost just four wickets in their second innings as they batted out a marathon 143 overs to keep the series alive.

Stokes said there was no danger of the injury impacting on England’s Ashes tour in Australia later this year and said six or seven weeks of rehabilitation would be required.

England have made four changes to their team at the Oval as they attempt to wrap up the series.

All-rounder Jacob Bethell makes his first Test appearance of 2025, effectively as a replacement for Stokes.

Fast bowlers Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton all come into the side, with Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse rested.

Liam Dawson has been dropped after just one match, with England opting to play without a specialist spinner, entrusting slow-bowling duties to Bethell and Joe Root.

Stokes said the match was a chance for others to shine.

“We’re still able to field an 11 that’s going to give us a very good chance of winning this game and winning the series,” he said. “That’s the benefit of having a very strong squad.”

India captain Shubman Gill, who has already scored four hundreds in his debut series as skipper, has no doubt about the impact of Stokes’ absence.

“A big miss definitely for England,” he said on Wedne­s­day. “Whenever he comes on to bowl or in to bat, he always makes things interesting. He always makes something happen.

The build-up to the series finale has been overshadowed by a spat on Tuesday between India head coach Gautam Gam­bhir and the ground staff at the Oval after Gambhir tried to take a close look at the square.

Gill said Lee Fortis, the head groundsman at the Oval, had sparked an “unnecessary” row.

“It’s not the first time that we were having a look at the wicket, we have been there for almost two months,” he said.

“A coach has every right to be able to go close quarters and have a look at the wicket and I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. I actually don’t know why the curator would not allow us to go have a look at the wicket.

“All of us have played so much cricket, we have gone to the pitches so many times, including the coaches and captain, I don’t know what the fuss was about.”

The series has become increasingly heated, with India refusing to shake hands on a draw early in the fourth Test in Manchester to allow Washing­ton Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja to reach centuries, a decision that angered England.

Gill previously accused England of ignoring the “spirit of cricket” with time-wasting tactics in the third Test at Lord’s, where India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj was fined for the aggressive send-off he gave to Ben Duckett.

But he said the incidents were not connected.

“I think I have already explained what happened at Lord’s and about even the incident that happened on the last day in the previous Test,” he said. “Both the teams have been very competitive. And sometimes when you are competitive, you know, in the heat of the moment, you do or say things that you might not do [otherwise]. But I think once the ma­tch is over, there is mutual respect between both the teams.”

Despite India’s superb rearguard action to earn a draw in Manchester, Gambhir remains under pressure. Since he took over as head coach, India have won just two and lost eight out of 12 Tests.

“ [A] 2-2 [draw] will be very significant for this team,” Gill said. “Every match we have played, it was difficult to decide the winner after the first four days.”

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2025