Stokes’ importance to the England team as a player and leader is paramount. He has been in particularly fine form with the ball this summer, regularly England’s best bowler, while his century at Old Trafford was his first in a Test for more than two years.
He is the leading wicket-taker on either side in the England-India series with 17, which is also his most successful with the ball across a 12-year Test career. The 140 overs Stokes has bowled in the series is also the most of his career.
Fears about his fitness were raised at Old Trafford when he did not bowl any of England’s 63 overs on the fourth day. He did bowl at the beginning of the fifth day, ultimately sending down 11 overs as India batted throughout Sunday to claim an unlikely draw.
India began their second innings 311 behind and were reduced to 0-2 before lunch on Saturday. Centuries from captain Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar took the took the tourists to safety on 425-4 when a draw was agreed.
England were in the field for 143 overs across Saturday and Sunday, a huge amount given the short time between Tests. Across the series, England have fielded for 222 overs more than India.
Seamers Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse have played all four Tests for England, while Jofra Archer has played the last two after more than four years out with injuries.
All three would be candidates to be rotated at The Oval. Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson were in the England squad for the fourth Test and Jamie Overton could be added as cover.
“You look at how long we have been out in the field and the overs we have bowled, everyone is going to be pretty sore and pretty tired,” said Stokes. “There will be an assessment of everyone and hopefully we can use these next days of rest wisely.
“We might have make a few decisions to get some fresh legs in, but that won’t be decided until we get closer to the last game.”
England had the better of much of the fourth Test, but ultimately fell short of winning the series with a match to spare. England have not beaten India or won a five-Test series against anyone since 2018.
Now, the home side must avoid defeat at The Oval in order to seal what they hope will be the first part of a successful year, with the Ashes to follow in Australia this winter.
“Yes, we’re 2-1 up, but we want to go out and put that last big performance in. We know there’s a lot of hard work to go into the end of the series,” said Stokes.
“We set this game up really well. We played the game in the way we wanted to. I give a lot of credit to the way India were able to play the way they did. It just wasn’t meant to be this week.”
India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant suffered a broken foot during the fourth Test, with head coach Gautam Gambhir saying he was “all for” the introduction of injury replacements in Test cricket. Replacements are currently only allowed for concussions.
However, Stokes said the suggestion is “absolutely ridiculous”, because such a move would create “too many loopholes”.
“You pick your XI for a game and injuries are part of the game,” said Stokes. “I completely understand the concussion replacement, because that is player welfare and safety.
“I honestly think the conversation should stop around injury replacements. If you stick me in an MRI scanner, I could get another player in straight away.”
