[Watch] ENG vs IND 2025: 'Don't have a spinner' - Ollie Pope's hilarious reply to umpires after being asked to bowl spin
England have gone in without a specialist spinner for the fifth and final Test match against India at the KIA Oval in London.
England are playing the fifth and final Test match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 at the KIA Oval in London against India without a specialist spinner. Towards the fag end of Day 2, stand-in captain Ollie Pope cracked a joke by referencing the lack of a frontline spinner on his side.
After rain hit the picturesque venue in the final session, play was stopped for 45 minutes. Once the action resumed, the final minutes of play were marred by bad light. England's fielders dropped three catches, and it seemed that they were struggling to spot the ball in the fading light.
Umpire Kumar Dharmasena asked Pope whether he would be willing to bowl spinners as the light wasn't suitable enough for the pacers to continue. The right-handed batter jokingly said that he had no spinner in his side.
You'll bowl spin. Otherwise, we'll go out," Dharmasena said.
Spin? Don't have a spinner. No, I'm joking.""Fast bowling? Ya. No spin," Pope said.
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30England have picked spin-bowling all-rounder Jacob Bethell in their side for the fifth Test. However, the seam-friendly conditions at the Oval meant that the youngster bowled only a couple of overs in the first innings. India finished Day 2 at 75/2, having taken a lead of 52 runs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal finished unbeaten on 51 off 49 balls. England, on the other hand, lost the wickets of KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan cheaply. Earlier in the day, England were bowled out for 247 in 51.2 overs. Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj bagged four wickets apiece. Zak Crawley and Harry Brook scored half-centuries for the Three Lions.
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Jaiswal and Akash Deep are the overnight batters for India, and they will want to add a few runs in the morning session to make things easier for the batters to follow.
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