England have recalled fast bowler Mark Wood in place of Ollie Robinson in the only change to their XI for the final Test against India in Dharamsala. Wood was rested for the defeat in the fourth Test, while Robinson struggled with a back problem in Ranchi.
England are 3-1 down and will lose the series regardless of the result of the fifth Test, which starts on Thursday. Poorly pair Robinson and Shoaib Bashir did not train on Wednesday, but Ben Stokes said it was “not a major issue”.
Captain Stokes added: “I don't think it's anything to be too concerned about. They both woke up with slightly upset stomachs and the day before the game you don't want to put anybody at risk so we've decided to keep them away from the team.
“When you've got so many people contained in the same space all the time you want to limit the chance of it spreading. So to keep the two guys who are slightly unwell back at the hotel away from the guys is the sensible thing to do.”
Stokes said he was confident off-spinner Bashir will be fit to play and England do not currently have a contingency plan if he is ruled out. There are no other frontline spinners in the squad after Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed both left the tour.
England team for fifth Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir.
As it stands, England have resisted the option of playing three frontline seamers for the first time on the tour. The picturesque Dharamsala ground is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, with much cooler temperatures than anything experienced in the series so far.
But all-rounder Stokes said any “pre-conceived ideas” England had about their team selection were altered by their impression of the pitch.
“We definitely came here looking at playing three seamers, purely because of how the weather has been like,” Stokes told BBC Sport.
“Turning up, the wicket looks pretty flat, but also looks like it might have some pace and carry. The bowlers had a bowl in the middle yesterday and said there is a lot more movement in the air than anywhere else we've been, because of the conditions and where we are.”
Stokes, 32, has been working his way back to full fitness after having knee surgery in November. At various times during the tour he has hinted at being able to bowl competitively for the first time since July, but said selection for the fifth Test was done with him planning not to bowl.
“The knee is good. It'd been ticking over and progressing well,” he said.
“We have picked a team without indication of me bowling 5-10 overs and I'm confident my four frontline bowlers and Joe Root's off-spin is going to be enough.” Batter Jonny Bairstow will win his 100th cap, becoming the 17th England man to reach the milestone in Test cricket. For India, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will also mark a century of Test caps.
Before training on Wednesday, six England players were part of group that met Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at his residence in Dharamsala. Bairstow, Zak Crawley Tom Hartley, Ollie Pope, Gus Atkinson and Dan Lawrence made the trip alongside some members of staff.
This will be England men's last engagement of a winter that has been largely spent in India. Stokes, Bairstow, Atkinson, Wood and Joe Root are the five to have played in England's awful World Cup campaign in October and November and been part of this Test tour, which began in mid-January.
Though Stokes will suffer his first series defeat as captain, he said his team has made “good progression” and there are no thoughts of the journey home before the final Test begins.
“Lots of teams come to India, with long tours and long series. It wouldn't be a lie to say teams can think about the flight before the game has started,” he said.
“Hand on heart, that's not where we're at as a team. That's not our mentality, that's not our mindset. We'll think about the plane when we're on it, when the game is done and we're on the way home.
“We're here for another five or six days and all of our mindset is on what we need to do to win this game.”
— CutC by bbc.com
