India v England 2024, fifth men's Test: All you need to know

Start times, location, TV and streaming information, squads, form, odds, weather and more...

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What is it?

The fifth and final Test between India and England.

When is it?

The match is scheduled to begin on Thursday, March 7, with the first ball set to be bowled at 9:30am local time (4am GMT).

Where is it?

The fifth Test will be held at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala.

India have played one Test at the ground, defeating Australia by eight wickets in March 2017.

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Jonny Bairstow is in line to win his 100th Test cap [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]

What's happened in the series so far?

India took an unassailable 3-1 series lead after completing a five-wicket win in the fourth Test in Ranchi.

England headed into their second innings with a lead of 46 but came unstuck against India's spinners. They were bowled out for 145 - Ravichandran Ashwin took a five-for - and while there were some nervy moments in India's chase, half-centuries from Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill helped get them over the line midway through day four.

Earlier in the tour, England had won the first Test in Hyderabad by 28 runs before India levelled the series in Vizag, winning the second Test by 106 runs. The third Test took the series to Rajkot, where India won by 434 runs.

India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal is the runaway leading run-scorer, with 655 runs at 93.57, while England spinner Tom Hartley has taken a series-leading 20 wickets.

What's the squad news?

Jonny Bairstow will earn his 100th Test cap in Dharamsala after Brendon McCullum confirmed he would keep his place in the XI. Bairstow has had a lean series with the bat, scoring 170 runs at 21.25 in eight innings.

The exact make-up of the bowling attack - they expect the pitch to offer assistance to seam bowlers - is still up in the air. There are question marks surrounding Ollie Robinson, who made a disappointing return to Test cricket in Ranchi (McCullum said he "twinged his back while batting" which resulted in his slow bowling) but Ben Stokes could return to the bowling attack.

Dan Lawrence and Gus Atkinson are the only members of England's travelling party who are yet to feature in the series.

Jasprit Bumrah returns for India after being rested for the fourth Test. The seamer has tormented England throughout this series, taking 17 wickets at 13.64.

However, they remain without Virat Kohli (who ruled himself out of the entire series for personal reasons), Mohammed Shami (who underwent surgery on his right heel in February), and KL Rahul (quadricep injury).

Allrounder Washington Sundar has been released to play for Tamil Nadu in their Ranji Trophy semi-final, which starts on March 2, but could return to the squad upon the conclusion of the match if required.

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep

England: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook (withdrawn, replaced by Dan Lawrence), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach (withdrawn), Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood

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Jasprit Bumrah is back in India's squad after being rested for the fourth Test [Stu Forster/Getty Images]

What is the weather forecast?

There's quite a bit of variation between different weather forecasting services but the overarching theme for Dharamsala is cold. Rain and even snow cannot be ruled out, particularly on day one.

What are the odds?

India are the favourites, with odds of 8/13, while an England victory is available at 16/5. The bookies are offering odds of 9/2 for a draw.

How can I watch it?

In the UK, TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) will show the entire series after making a late bid to secure the broadcast rights. The fifth Test will be shown on TNT Sports 1, with coverage beginning at 3.30am. TNT Sports can be streamed live via the Discovery+ app.

Talksport will provide live radio commentary for listeners in the UK.

In India, Sports 18 will televise the series while all five matches can also be livestreamed via the Jio Cinema app or website.

Elsewhere in the world, fans in Australia can catch the series on Fox Sports while in South Africa, Supersport will have all of the action. In USA, WillowTV will provide live coverage.

Subscribers get exclusive access to the best analysis of England's Test tour of India from our chief correspondent George Dobell. Join them by signing up here for just £3.99!

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