England vs India: 'Hosts chasing history in fifth Test after backing themselves into a corner'

When Ollie Pope found out he was going to lead England this week, he cheekily asked Ben Stokes if he could have the captain's suite in the team hotel. Stokes declined.

Pope probably knew he was on a hiding to nothing. This final Test against India at The Oval is the fifth time he has deputised as skipper, so Pope would also have been well aware of the biggest challenge that faces anyone who replaces Stokes as England captain - not having Stokes the all-rounder.

This has been a gruelling series, not helped by the condensed nature of the schedule. Bodies on both sides have been broken.

England have bowled almost 315 more overs than India in the series and paid through the loss of Stokes. India have had to deal with injury problems of their own - Rishabh Pant and Nitish Kumar Reddy have gone down, while Jasprit Bumrah has been limited to only three Tests.

We have entered the final act. England have recent form for run chases, but knocking off 374 on this Oval pitch would be truly remarkable.

Starting day four on 50-0 would have been a position of promise, but the loss of Zak Crawley from the penultimate delivery of day three tipped the balance further towards India ending with a 2-2 draw.

If they do, they will have won the two Tests Bumrah has missed. They have managed their resources better than England.

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