Image Credit- AFP
In a Test match,
England will be battling for dignity for the first time under captain Ben
Stokes.
England’s only hope of winning two games in a series against the hosts and
going home with a 3-2 victory is all that stands between them and India.
However, the fundamental reason for so is that not all Test nations are able to
host five Tests in this region. Only four were granted to Australia at this
time last year.
This fifth and final Test’s hosting in Dharamsala gives further scenic
background and, to some, a sense of divinity. On Wednesday morning, a number of
the visiting party members will meet the Dalai Lama. Though it is improbable
that the spiritual head of England will be among them.
The series may be
gone, but Stokes’ focus remains for this final stretch of this tour.
“Well, it’s like whenever we play,” he replied when asked what, aside
from a few World Test Championship points, are at stake. “We want to win
this week.”
There is no room for
complacency, especially considering this team needs to perform better. It hurt
to lose out on possibilities to play Australia last summer, and similar missed
chances in India indicate that a good team needs to start performing better
under pressure.
“It’s not a mental or a mentality thing,” Stokes said,
matter-of-factly. “All you can do is work your hardest and try your nuts
off in the nets because that’s where you get better.”
For their first time
on the tour, England is toying with the idea of a three-pronged seam assault,
but they will hold off until Wednesday afternoon to assess the condition of
what Stokes called a “belting deck” in terms of batting, with surprisingly
little grass due to the recent rain. Shoaib Bashir, who has bowled nearly 38%
of his first-class overs in the past month, is tending to a split finger. He’s
probably the one who gives way to the choice of going faster.
Mark Wood might make
a comeback for his third match of the series with James Anderson totally fit
after a quad strain kept him off the pitch for the fourth Test’s last session.
Anderson is just two dismissals shy from reaching 700 in his career. While Stokes
praised Gus Atkinson, an uncapped quick, as “an exciting talent”,
Ollie Robinson, who hasn’t played since last July’s defeat at Ranchi, may hold
onto his spot in the starting lineup.