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ENG vs IND | 5th Test: England recall Jack Leach and Jos Buttler for Manchester Test

Whether it is an outcome of the last Test defeat or whether focussed on things to come, but Jos Buttler, who went on a family break after the third Test has been recalled for the last Test in Manchester. Along with him, Somerset spinner Jack Leach has been called in as well giving an indication of things to expect in Old Trafford, which turned even during the T20 Blast games. 

Although Craig Overton suffered a blow to the elbow while batting in the fourth Test, he has still been included in the 16-man squad announced on Tuesday. Sam Billings, who was called in as cover for Buttler has returned back to his county of Kent.

Mark Wood would be avoidable for selection in the fifth Test and England head coach Chris Silverwood feels that it can work as an advantage for the team. “He could come back and if he does, he will obviously add that pace for us. If the pitch is abrasive as it usually is at Old Trafford there should be reverse swing,” Silverwood said about Wood. 

About whether James Anderson will play the game at his home turf or not, Silverwood said that it would be decided after a chat with the man himself on where does he feel about his body. “James knows his own body. He will certainly give me an honest opinion of where he is at, and it's certainly something I will listen to,” he said. 

England squad: Joe Root (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

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Not at all worried about World Cup or IPL, focussed on winning series: Jasprit Bumrah

Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who led the team to a huge 157 run win over England with his brilliant spell of reverse swing said that he is not at all worried about the Indian Premier League or the upcoming T20 World Cup as he plans to deliver once more in the last Test of the series and try and win it for India. "I want to play the longest time for my country so I work hard in the gym, on my diet and everything I try to control. I train really well and I have got ammunition inside me and when I want to push, I can push hard,” the fast bowler was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. "I am not thinking too far ahead about the IPL or World Cup because then mentally you can be tired. My focus is on the present, concentrating ball by ball and get results in our favour,” added the 27-year-old who bowled 22 overs in the second innings and finished with figures of 2-27. Talking about the game, which India went on to win surprising many pundits who believed getting 10 wickets on the last ball was not really possible due to the flatness of the wicket, Bumrah said that the team never stopped believing that they can win. "Yes, the wicket was fresh and we didn't score much in the first innings. But we didn't lose shape as a team and didn't think about a lot of things that are said and a lot of things that are written. We wanted to fight till the end and that's the character we wanted to show,” said Bumrah.

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UAE wicket-keeper Ghulam Shabber banned by ICC for four years

The links to match-fixing and corrupt practices with the players from Emirates Cricket Board just doesn’t seem to break a yet another cricketer has been banned for five years by International Cricket Council for failing to report match-fixing approaches. UAE’s wicket keeper batsman Ghulam Shabber has been found guilty of breaching six counts of the ICC anti-corruption code. Shabbir has accepted the sanctions and has thus been banned for five years starting August 20. According to ICC’s integrity unit, Shabber failed "to disclose to the ACU full details of attempted approaches to engage in corrupt conduct". The approaches were made to him during his team’s series against Nepal in January-February 2019 and then once again in the series against Zimbabwe in April of the same year. The 35-year-old also failed to report "full details of an approach received by a teammate to engage in corrupt conduct in relation to the series against Zimbabwe in April 2019." The anti-corruption unit of the international body also found the Pakistan born player guilty of derailing the investigation by concealing certain facts. The ACU said, that Ghulam failed, “to disclose to the ACU full details of facts and/or incidents that he was aware of which may have evidenced corrupt conduct by other Participants." "Shabber played 40 matches for the UAE and was expected to understand his responsibilities as an international cricketer. He also attended at least three anti-corruption education sessions in which players were reminded of their obligations to report any approaches by corrupters," said Alex Marshall, ICC General Manager - Integrity Unit. In his career spanning from 2016 to 2019, Shabber played 23 ODIs and 17 T20Is for UAE, scoring a total of 708 international runs with four fifties in his kitty and 90 being his highest score.

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Best thing about Oval and Lord’s win is character of the team: Virat Kohli

The Indian skipper Virat Kohli praised the effort of the Indian bowling unit to dismiss England once again on day five and register the second victory in the five-match series against the hosts. But more than that, the captain was proud of the character shown by the team which in every difficult situation came out trumps to take the match home. Talking about how the team made comeback from conceding 99 runs lead in the first innings, Kohli said, “To come back from there and the way we batted in the second innings showed that we are not down and out. And we are not looking to survive in this game. If there's an opportunity to put the opposition under pressure, we'll go for it. And we put up a total on the board which was always going to be difficult to chase, especially heading into the latter half of Day 4 and 5.” There were many similarities between the victories at Lord’s in the second Test and this one at Oval in the fourth Test. To Kohli though, there was one similarity that trumped all and it was the character shown by the team in both the games. “The best thing about both wins is the character that the side has shown. I'm really proud of the character the team has shown, especially this morning the way the team has bowled. It is definitely among the top three bowling performances that I have witnessed as an Indian captain,” said the 32-year-old. With England 100 for none chasing 367, it seemed that the wickets were really hard to come by, was Kohli ever worried about that? Answering this question, the right-handed batter said, “The last two days, conditions were really hot so the field wasn't that wet like the first three days. And we knew we were in with an opportunity with [Ravindra] Jadeja bowling from one end into the rough - the ball got scuffed up quite nicely and we managed to make one side heavier.” “Our guys, when the ball is reversing enough, they become much more lethal, and we exploited reverse swing perfectly today,” he added. With the 157 runs win the fourth Test, the Indian team seems the favourite to win the series with only one Test remaining which begins on September 10 at Old Trafford.

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We’ve got to be more ruthless: Joe Root on another frustrating last day loss

The similarities to the Lord’s defeat and the one at Oval are glaringly similar with the English team going on to lose on the final day from a winning position. The middle order of the England team laying down its guns almost saying that they are unable to keep up the fight was also eerily similar. The English team lost four of its middle-order wickets in just six runs and skipper Joe Root feels it’s frustrating to lose this way. But what’s more frustrating for Root is how his team has given away opportunities one after another, failing to make the most of them. “I think, actually, where the game is lost - where we could really stamp out authority on things was earlier in the game. I think we should have gotten a bigger lead the first time around. It would have been nice to have another 100 runs, actually. And then we're looking at a very different game,” Root said in the post-match press conference after a 157 run defeat in the fourth Test at Oval. England were once 100 without loss with more than 80 overs to be bowled and only 267 runs needed. Some people even thought that they might go on to chase the target down considering the flatness of the wicket. However, from 100 for none, they slumped to 147-6 and win was suddenly out of the question and it was more about survival. Speaking about the attitude of the team, the 30-year-old skipper said, "We've got to be a little bit more ruthless with those first innings runs and with our catches, although some of them were extremely difficult.” Root then went on to give a certain hypothesis of how the team would have approached the match if they were not to lose as many wickets as they did. "Unfortunately we couldn't quite take it deep enough and that was a wonderful spell of bowling that really turned the game. They got the ball reversing nicely and they took advantage of it, and we just didn't have the right answers which are slightly frustrating,’ he said. “Turning up today with the opportunity to go and win a Test match and then to be bowled out is hard to take for the lads in the changing room,” the skipper added, but not before warning that a comeback was around the corner when they reach Manchester. “We'll look at how we responded from Lord's and the performance we put in at Headingley. We're going to look to do exactly the same at Old Trafford," he said. The two teams will now take on each other in the last match of the series at Old Trafford starting September 10. With this win at Oval, India lead the five-match series 2-1.