England captain Ben Stokes ruled out of final India…

England captain Ben Stokes ruled out of final India Test with shoulder injury

England captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the fifth and final Test against India with a right shoulder injury.

Stokes repeatedly clutched his shoulder during the fourth Test at Old Trafford, having sent down more deliveries than in any previous series he has played. He initially dismissed fears he might be forced to sit out the last match, but scan results revealed muscle damage that will take six to seven weeks to fully repair.

Stokes was withdrawn among four changes made by England for the fifth Test at The Oval, where England take a 2-1 series lead into the match on Thursday. Jacob Bethell comes into the side and will bat at No 6, and Ollie Pope will assume the captaincy.

Speaking at The Oval on Wednesday, Stokes hinted that the Ashes, which starts in November, was at the back of his mind as he considered whether it was worth playing this finale against India.

“It’s a decent tear of one of the muscles that I can’t pronounce,” he said. “We took as long as we could to take the decision. I came down here to give myself a chance to play as a batter. Bowling was ruled out as soon as the scan results came.

“It was one of those, weighing up the risk and reward, and the risk was way too high if I damaged it further than it is. I wouldn’t expect to put any of my players to play with this kind of injury. I’m very disappointed.”

The 21-year-old Bethell has risen to the top of the game on a wave of excitement, and averaged 52 across his three Test matches thus far, all played in New Zealand last year. His young career has played out amid constant expectation, but Stokes says he will be unfazed.

“There was a lot more hype and pressure in New Zealand when he was given a chance at No 3 and he handled that pretty well,” said Stokes. “He gets to slide in at No 6. I’m very confident in his abilities, he’s a quality player. We weren’t going to change the batting order, so he slots in.

“It helps that we’ve got a really strong squad, some pretty bloody good cricketers to choose from.”

Spinner Liam Dawson and pace bowlers Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse have all been replaced, with seamers Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue coming into a refreshed bowling attack.