Mark Wood has returned to the England team for the fifth Test against India in picturesque Dharamshala, replacing Ollie Robinson as the one change for the tourists after their series-sealing defeat in Ranchi last week.
As has become customary, Ben Stokes named his XI a day out from the toss and, hoping to end the series as a 3-2 defeat, did so despite illness in the camp. Both Robinson and Shoaib Bashir were absent from training on Wednesday due to upset stomachs but the latter, who took eight wickets in the fourth Test, has still kept his spot.
The recall for Wood was not unexpected, both for the beige, flat pitch that has been prepared at the HPCA Cricket Stadium and Robinson’s suboptimal one-off appearance on tour that, after no warm-up cricket, saw him struggle to reach 80mph during 13 wicketless overs. It followed another back issue, this time suffered while batting.
England’s final selection is contingent on Bashir brightening up overnight and, if not, it would force a change of strategy given there is no backup spinner. Surrey’s uncapped fast bowler Gus Atkinson is the only spare bowler in the squad, spinners Jack Leach (knee) and Rehan Ahmed (personal reasons) having already left the tour.
“I don’t think it’s anything to be too concerned about,” said Stokes. “[Bashir and Robinson] woke up with slightly upset stomachs and the day before a game you don’t want to put anybody at risk so we’ve decided to keep them away from the team. It’s the sensible thing to do.”
Regarding Wood’s return alongside Jimmy Anderson, who sits two wickets away from 700 in Test cricket, Stokes admitted he expected more grass on the pitch upon arrival in Dharamshala that would dictate three frontline seamers in his attack. As it is, on a surface he described as a “belter”, two spinners in Bashir and Tom Hartley was the decision.
“It looks like a wicket that could have a bit of pace and carry in it,” Stokes said. “Jimmy has been Jimmy on this trip – absolutely awesome – and having a fresh Mark Wood on a wicket that you feel is going to offer some pace [was a case of] wanting pace and firepower to break the game open. Two spinners allow us to play either conditions at different times.”
Stokes was supportive of Robinson in the pre-match press conference but, illness aside, the 30-year-old was unlikely to feature. And despite the England captain defending his worth ethic, the Sussex right-armer’s future deployment is not straightforward given a growing back catalogue of fitness issues that have left the team short in games.
Robinson suffered back spasms during the 2021/22 Ashes series that left the team a bowler down in both Adelaide and Hobart, with the problem then resurfacing during the warm-up period for the Caribbean tour that followed that winter and made him an onlooker for the entire series. At Headingley last summer, Robinson’s last outing before this tour, he pulled up after bowling just 11.2 overs.
The illness in the England camp is not confined to their ranks, with members of the umpiring team also affected. Joel Wilson, due to be on the field, and Kumar Dharmasena, down for third umpire duties, are both understood to have been affected.
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India’s Jayaraman Madanagopal is the designated fourth umpire in this match and, under the playing conditions, would step up to officiate if either colleague is unable to feature.
England (confirmed): Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Bairstow, Stokes (c), Foakes (wk), Hartley, Wood, Anderson, Bashir
India (possible): Sharma (c), Jaiswal, Gill, Patidar, Jadeja, Sarfaraz, Jurel (wk), Ashwin, Kuldeep, Bumrah, Siraj
