England captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the fifth and deciding Test against India with a shoulder injury in a devastating blow for the home side.
The England and Wales Cricket Board said vice-captain Ollie Pope would lead the side in the match at The Oval starting Thursday, with England 2-1 up in the five-Test series.
All-rounder Stokes has struggled with various fitness issues during the four Tests against India during which he has sent down 140 overs -- the most he has bowled in any series.
The 34-year-old, who is leading wicket-taker on either side with 17 scalps, has injured his right shoulder -- his bowling arm -- and it is understood he will need up to 10 weeks to recover.
鈥業 am obviously disappointed to not be able to finish the series,鈥� an emotional Stokes told a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
He added: 鈥業 have got a decent tear of one of the (shoulder) muscles I can't pronounce. I don't know how to say it, but we took as long as we could to make that decision around that.
鈥楢 bit of emotion goes into this kind of stuff when you find out what you have done 鈥�- bowling was ruled out as soon as we got the scan results.
鈥楤ut you need that time chatting with the medical team, Baz (England coach Brendon McCullum), then just 20 minutes to myself out there in the morning just to really be clear around the decision that we made.鈥�
England do not play Test cricket again until they face Australia in the first match of the Ashes tour in late November, with Stokes considered central to their hopes of regaining the urn.
The drawn fourth match of the India series at Old Trafford that ended on Sunday was a personal triumph for Stokes, who became just the fourth England cricketer to score a hundred and take five wickets in the same Test.
But that came at a cost as Stokes, whose career has been blighted by hamstring trouble, struggled with a number of fitness issues.
The tourists lost just four wickets in their second innings as they batted out a marathon 143 overs to keep the series alive.
England have made four changes in all following that gruelling encounter.
Spin-bowling all-rounder Jacob Bethell makes his first Test appearance of the year, effectively as a replacement for Stokes.
Pacemen Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton all come into the side, with Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse rested.
Liam Dawson's return to Test cricket lasted just one match, with England going into the India finale without a specialist spinner, the hosts entrusting slow-bowling duties to Bethell and Joe Root.
England team for fifth Test:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (capt), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wkt), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue
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