England announce playing XI for fifth Test against India, make one change

IND vs ENG — Image Source : GETTY England team

England have named their playing XI for the fifth and final Test against India to be played in Dharamsala from March 7 (Thursday). The visitors have made one change to their combination they preferred in Ranchi as they aim to make it 2-3 in the series. Mark Wood is coming back into the mix after missing out in the last game while under-fire Ollie Robinson has been dropped for the fifth and final Test match.

Interestingly, amidst all the talk of rest and workload, veteran James Anderson is playing his fourth consecutive Test match on this tour. He has picked up eight wickets so far in three Tests sending down a mammoth 94 overs, the most by a pacer in the series. He now has a great chance to achieve a major milestone of 700 wickets in Test cricket. He is only two wickets away from becoming the first ever pacer to the landmark. Despite the conditions in Dharamsala being more like UK, England have resisted playing three quick bowlers even as Ben Stokes remains in contention to bowl.

Coming back to playing XI, Wood is coming back after a poor show from Robinson with the ball as he bowled 13 wicketless overs in the first innings and wasn't required in the second. Instead he did well with the bat scoring 58 runs lower down the order providing support to Joe Root. However, skipper Ben Stokes defended Robinson revealing that the cricketer wasn't 100% fit and despite that, he fielded on all days of the Test match.

"You are more gutted for Ollie that something on day one, his back going, which affects the role he can play in the long run. He is more disappointed that he couldn't help the team out as much as he'd like. The thing to look at is that he was out on the field, trying to influence the game even though he wasn't feeling 100% (fit). A lesser man would have put their hands up, walked away, and not even tried," Stokes said on the eve of the fifth Test.