"He was perhaps not available for selection" - Aakash Chopra on India's XI for ENG vs IND 2025 5th Test

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that Shubman Gill and company made the right selection calls for the fifth Test against England. He noted that Arshdeep Singh was not picked because the cut in his hand had apparently not yet healed.

Dhruv Jurel, Karun Nair, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna replaced Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah and Anshul Kamboj in India's XI for the fifth Test that started at The Oval on Thursday, July 31. After being asked to bat first, the visitors ended Day 1 at 204/6 in their first innings.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener noted that while Nair was expectedly included in the XI, Arshdeep was potentially unavailable for selection.

"We were saying that Karun Nair should be played, and he has been played. Prasidh Krishna has been given a chance. Akash Deep has returned. There was no place for Arshdeep, and it's been heard that his cut is not yet healed. So he was perhaps not available for selection," he said (1:45).

While observing that Shardul Thakur was rightly left out, Chopra added that the grassy Oval pitch potentially cost Kuldeep Yadav a place in the XI.

"Not playing Shardul Thakur, I think, was the right decision. Playing Karun Nair is also a right decision because if Rishabh Pant isn't there, you need one more proper batter. You probably weren't able to play Kuldeep Yadav because it's a pitch very unlike The Oval," he elaborated.

Karun Nair was unbeaten on a 98-ball 52 at Stumps on Day 1. While Dhruv Jurel scored 19 runs off 40 deliveries, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna haven't yet batted or bowled.

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"No one will talk about it" - Aakash Chopra on the green Oval pitch for ENG vs IND 2025 5th Test

The Oval pitch has been the most seamer-friendly surface in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that the pitch won't be spoken about despite it not being a usual Oval surface.

"The pitch at The Oval is always flat, and there is help for the spinners, but they have given a green top. The home team hasn't played a single spinner. When you don't have a spinner, and you don't play one, you can leave grass on the pitch, and no one will talk about it today," he said (2:15).

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the pitch would have been termed doctored if a spin-friendly surface had been prepared in India.

"If India play a token fast bowler and all spinners, and prepare a spin-friendly pitch, the Western and Eastern media, from Australia to England to wherever, would have ripped into Indian cricket. They would have said that we have doctored the pitch. When you are leaving grass and playing all fast bowling, isn't that equivalent to pitch doctoring?" Chopra observed.

England haven't included a specialist spinner in their XI for the Oval Test. The hosts' seamers bowled 62 out of the 64 overs on Day 1, with Jacob Bethell bowling two overs of spin.

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Edited by Kartik Iyer