India and England will square off in the rescheduled fifth Test starting from Friday at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Team India are currently leading the five-match series 2-1, having won Tests at Lord’s and Oval last year. However, defeating the current England side would not be easy as under a different captain Ben Stokes, the Three Lions are playing a much more attacking brand of cricket. India would be led by Jasprit Bumrah after Rohit Sharma tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday morning once again, as per the BCCI.
With cricket matches in the UK, one area of concern is always the weather and if there is cloud cover, the bowlers are expected to have a field day.
As per Accuweather, the cloud cover will remain throughout the day, and hence, bowlers can expect to make full use of the helpful conditions.
As per Accuweather, there is a chance of rain at 10 AM UK time (2:30 PM IST) and hence the start of play on Day 1 could be a delayed one.
At 2:30 PM IST, the cloud cover at Edgbaston is expected to be at 70 per cent with 0.6mm rainfall expected.
The conditions are then expected to get better as the day progresses. However, as per Accuweather, there is a chance of rain at 2 PM BST (6:30 PM IST).
After 6:30 PM IST, the conditions are then expected to improve further.
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With these cloudy conditions, it would be interesting to see whether India go with the fourth pacer in the lineup or opt to go in with two spinners in the form of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
England had announced their playing XI on Thursday and the hosts’ bowling attack is — Matthew Potts, Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Jack Leach. All-rounder Ben Stokes will act as the fourth pace option.
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