IND vs ENG 5th Test: Mark Wood Replaces Ollie Robinson as England Announce Playing XI

Fast bowler Mark Wood will be back in the mix to replace Ollie Robinson when England take on India in the fifth Test, starting Thursday in Dharamsala. The visitors on Wednesday announced their playing XI for the final fixture, fielding two spinners – Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley, and as many fast bowlers, Wood and James Anderson.

Robinson gets benched after he suffered a back strain while batting in the first innings of the Ranchi Test and didn’t bowl at all in India’s successful run chase. His absence makes way for Wood, who was rested for the previous encounter due to a heavy workload.

Veteran seamer James Anderson retains his place and is just two wickets away from becoming the third bowler to take 700 Test wickets, after Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and the late Australian great Shane Warne (708).

Struggling England batsman Jonny Bairstow will win his 100th cap and India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is also in line to reach the same milestone, having already passed 500 Test wickets during the series.

England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir.

India have already pocketed the series 3-1 and England will be fighting to salvage some pride in the final game in Dharamsala.

Will Ben Stokes bowl?

The absence of a third seamer hints that the England skipper might be seen rolling his arms over in the final fixture. He has often been seen bowling in the nets, having undergone knee surgery after the ICC Men’s World Cup last year.

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Stokes has not bowled full tilt since the second Ashes Test in July last year and underwent knee surgery after the ODI World Cup in November. Coming into the series against India, the England captain had already ruled out bowling and said he had made a ‘pinky promise’ to the team physio.

Robinson, Bashir suffer stomach bug

As stated by Stokes in the pre-match presser, the likes of Ollie Robinson and Shoaib Bashir had stomach-related issues and hence skipped the training session on Wednesday.