Despite the anticipated seam-friendly conditions in Dharamsala, Bashir, and Hartley were both retained.
For their fifth Test match against India in Dharamsala, England has chosen not
to bolster their seam-bowling unit. Instead, they have announced an XI that
includes just one change, Mark Wood in place of Ollie Robinson, from the team
that lost by five wickets in Ranchi last month.
Pre-Test discussions had focused on the possibility that England would include
at least one extra seamer due to the predicted cold in Dharamsala and the fact
that the ground for this match is the same one that was used when all 36
wickets fell to seam in a recent Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Himachal
Pradesh.
But after a last examination of the wicket by the Ben
Stokes, Brendon McCullum, Marcus Trescothick, and Jeetan Patel management
group, England decided to hold onto the balance that made them competitive in
Ranchi, keeping Tom Hartley's left-arm spin and Shoaib Bashir's offspring.
This is true even if England doesn't think Bashir's cut to his spinning finger,
which occurred during his 70-over effort in the fourth Test, will significantly
harm him. Nevertheless, they are a little cautious about stomach aches, which
is why neither Bashir nor Robinson showed up for England's final tour training
session.
Due to their "slightly upset stomachs" when they
awoke on Wednesday morning, it was decided to keep them at the team hotel in
order to stop the infection from spreading to the rest of the squad.
"You don't want to put anybody at risk so we've decided to keep them away
from the team," Stokes said. It's the right course of action. You want to
reduce the likelihood of it spreading when there are so many individuals
confined to one area at all times. Therefore, it makes sense to keep the two
men who are feeling a little under the weather away from the other guys back at
the hotel."
Stokes is adamant that Bashir will recover from his sickness,
and he has no established backup plan. Gus Atkinson, a fast bowler, and Dan
Lawrence, an occasional off-spin bowler, round out the current 14-man group.
"We'll have to decide what we believe is best if it turns out that Bashir
is too sick to play. I haven't planned too far ahead. Not a big deal; we just
wanted to make sure nothing got out to other people."
Robinson was left off the field entirely during India's victorious run-chase in the fourth Test after he developed a back strain when batting in England's opening innings. The decision to leave Robinson off was made before Wednesday morning. He makes way for England's fastest bowler, Wood, who recovered from a demanding schedule in Rajkot by taking a nap in Ranchi.
"It looks like a wicket that could have a bit of pace
and carry in it," Stokes remarked. "Whenever we've gone with two
seamers, it's always been nice to have a new Mark Wood on a track that you feel
will offer some pace. While considering a bowler like Jimmy, we also want to
have the firepower and pace to blow the game open. We can play either condition
at different points throughout the Test since we have two spinners."
The lack of a specialized third seamer suggests that England's captain, Ben
Stokes, who had knee surgery over the winter, maybe getting back to bowling
fitness. Stokes has been increasing his workload in the nets this trip.
"Every time we've picked the team this tour, it hasn't been with any
expectations of my bowling," Stokes shot down the idea. Again, it will be
a bonus if I bowl any overs throughout this match."
James Anderson, who is 41 years old and will be playing in his fourth straight
match of the tour, will spearhead England's attack once more. Anderson needs
two more wickets to achieve 700 in Test cricket.
Regarding the milestone, Stokes stated, "It's phenomenal to think about, especially as a seam bowler." "An amazing career to date, and I can't see him stopping."Jimmy and I have been playing together for a while, and in all that time, I have never seen Jimmy as physically fit as he is now. His attitude and dedication to the game are evident in his hunger and drive to improve every day, even at the age of 41."
England XI Ben Stokes (capt), Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Tom Hartley, 9 Mark Wood, 10 James Anderson, 11 Shoaib Bashir, 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, etc.
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