ENG vs IND | England recalls Jamie Overton to bolster pace attack ahead of The Oval Test

‌England have recalled Jamie Overton to their squad for the fifth and final Test against India at The Oval in London, starting on Thursday. The addition of Overton will help the side boost their pace attack with only three days’ turnaround time from the last game, and the series well-poised at 2-1 in England’s favour.

The fast-bowling all-rounder’s inclusion is the only change that the hosts have made to their 14-member squad that played out a hard-fought draw against India in the fourth Test at Old Trafford. Pacers Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse have played all matches in the series, with Jofra Archer also featuring in consecutive matches after his return from injury.

The team management will look to rotate their faster bowlers and give them some much-needed rest in the marathon series. England captain Ben Stokes, who also had a hamstring strain during the game, agreed that there might be changes with minimal recovery time after a gruelling Test match.

"If you look at how long we've been out in the field and the overs that we bowled as a bowling unit, everyone is going to be pretty sore and pretty tired going into the last game of the series," he said. "There'll be an assessment of everyone, and hopefully we can use these next two or three days' rest period wisely and then have to make a decision.

"These recovery days are going to be pretty important, and we might have to make a few decisions to get some fresh legs in. But that won't be decided until we get closer to the last game."

Overton was part of the England team for the first three Tests before being dropped ahead of the fourth. He turned out for Surrey in the County Championship game against Yorkshire in Scarborough last week but went wicketless and scored only 18 runs in the drawn encounter.

England squad for the fifth Test

Ben Stokes (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes