England to experiment in final Test at Oval

With the series already in their pocket, thanks to an unlikely victory over the visitors India in the fourth Test match at Southampton, England head coach Trevor Bayliss suggested that his side will experiment in the final Test match at Oval to plug the gaps in their playing XI.

With the series already in their pocket, thanks to an unlikely victory over the visitors India in the fourth Test match at Southampton, England head coach Trevor Bayliss suggested that his side will experiment in the final Test match at Oval to plug the gaps in their playing XI.

England, in the end, beat India, who enjoyed an upper hand for the better part of the Test match, comprehensively by 60 runs on Sunday to seal the five-match series 3-1.

Despite their victory against the No. 1 ranked side of the world, Bayliss would be the first to admit that the loopholes in his side are bigger and wider than ever before.

The flop show of England’s top-order did not go unnoticed despite rescue acts in each Test either by Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes or Sam Curran. With Alastair Cook announcing that the Oval Test would be his last, England have an even bigger void to fill in the opening position, particularly considering the other opener – Keaton Jennings – too have been horribly short of runs.

"I'm sure there will be discussions on a few things in the next couple of days. Batsmen would like to have a settled position in the order. You always find in any era or team there are one or two guys who have to be a bit flexible," he said.

No. 3 is another position giving headaches to England. Moeen Ali was promoted in the second innings and there are indications that he might continue to bat in that position even in Oval.

"Moeen has been that guy for us over the last few years. When Root asked him if he was keen to do it he jumped at it. In the right conditions, I would not put it past him.

"He works hard at his game. In spinning conditions, he can cover that pretty well at the moment but his challenge will be on the faster wickets but we haven't got any of those for a while."

Bayliss, however, wasn't sure if Ali would be a permanent move and hinted it was possible for Root to revert to the role. "Joe has always said he wants to bat at four. He understood where I was coming from that if we had a number three averaging 50 to allow him to bat at four, that would be handy. But I thought it was for the best of the team he batted at three," he said.

"Hopefully we can find someone who can do a decent job at number three and he can bat where he feels most comfortable. All credit to him. He has taken that role on with no problems. He has taken one for the team in that respect."

The coach also said they will take a call on whether to field both James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the upcoming series.

"We will get together after this Test and see who is fit and available. We will definitely want to win the last Test, and I see a future with them (Anderson-Broad) at the moment," Bayliss said.

"They are the most successful pace bowlers in this series and it will go down to how their bodies are feeling. We spoke before the series if their bodies would double up in close Test matches. So we will have to wait and see how they are in 48 hours' time.