Is Arshdeep Singh playing today's ENG vs IND 2025 5th Test?

Team India pacer Arshdeep Singh did not receive his debut call-up as India decided not to include a debutant for the fifth and final Test against England, which will be played at The Oval in London. As a result, the tall pacer will continue to sit out of the playing XI.

While Arshdeep’s inclusion in the XI seemed likely for the fifth Test, with Jasprit Bumrah being rested for the final game, the team instead opted to stick with players who had already been part of the previous Tests of the series.

At the toss, Indian skipper Shubman Gill said that the bowlers were ready for the contest and that the wicket looked good for them to bowl. Speaking of the team combination, Gill said that they had made three changes to the XI.

“We’ve got three changes: Dhruv (Jurel) comes in for Rishabh (Pant), we’ve got Karun Nair back in for Shardul (Thakur), and Prasidh (Krishna) comes back in for (Jasprit) Bumrah.”

However, Gill forgot to mention Akash Deep's inclusion in the XI, as the pacer replaced Anshul Kamboj, with Team India making a total of four changes. England won the toss and chose to bowl first, making it India’s 15th straight loss at the toss in international cricket.

Here are the playing XIs of both sides:

IND: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel(w), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj

ENG: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue

India’s five-match Test tour of England in a gist

A new-look Team India took to the field for the five-match series against England. It turned out to be a series of firsts as the Indian side ushered in the dawn of a new era. To start with, Indian batters scored five centuries in the opening game, marking the first time this has happened in a Test at Headingley.

Two of those five centuries were scored by Rishabh Pant, who became the first batter to score twin centuries in England. Though the visitors lost the opening Test, they made history at Edgbaston by winning their first-ever Test at the venue, ultimately leveling the series 1-1.

It’s also the first time a visiting captain has scored four centuries in a Test series in England. With one game remaining, Gill has so far scored four centuries in the series, with two of them coming in the Birmingham Test, where he finished with a 269 in the first innings and followed it up with a 161 in the second.

It has been a memorable series for individual players so far, but the team has struggled to win a game since the second Test. With both teams missing some key players for the final Test and the series in favor of the hosts (2-1), it will be interesting to see if the Indian side ends their tour by leveling the series 2-2.

Notably, India won the second Test before the hosts clinched the series opener. The series then saw England secure a close win in the third Test at Lord’s, followed by Team India earning a draw in the next game at Manchester.