The number of ways in which $2$ oranges can be selected from $5$ identical oranges is given by $5 \choose 2$ . In another interpretation, since the oranges are identical, the number of ways is $1$. Is the following explanation correct ?
When we say the number of ways in which $2$ oranges can be selected from $5$ identical oranges is $5 \choose 2$, we are referring to number of ways in which the oranges can be taken in groups of $2$. The oranges look identical, but they themselves are distinct. Let's say we assign each orange a number. Then the problem becomes one of choosing two numbers from the set $\{1,2,3,4,5\}$. The answer is $5 \choose 2$.
In another interpretation, the answer is $1$. No matter which two oranges we pick, they look identical. But the answer $1$ refers to number of distinct outcomes. In the first situation(# of ways is $5 \choose 2$), we were more concerned with all possible variations in $2$-groupings but the order within the grouping did not matter. Here, we are more concerned with all possible variations in appearance.
If those oranges were distinct, then both the answers (# of ways and # of outcomes) would be $5 \choose 2$