Marcus Trescothick and Paul Collingwood to be roped as substitute fielders for fifth Test vs India as England falls short of players

England were forced to enlist their assistant coaches Marcus Trescothick and Paul Collingwood as substitute fielders for the ongoing fifth Test against India at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala.

England currently have only 13 fit players. Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed left India before the fourth Test due to a family emergency and was subsequently ruled out of the series. The visitors decided against naming a replacement for the youngster and played the fourth Test with 14 players in their squad.

For the ongoing fifth Test, they only had 13 fit players as fast-bowler Ollie Robinson was still ill and could not make it to the ground. As a result, they decided to include their former players Marcus Trescothick and Paul Collingwood in the squad as substitute fielders.

pic.twitter.com/L2lF57v1H1

— George Dobell (@GeorgeDobell1) March 7, 2024

This is not the first time that an assistant coach has been enlisted as a substitute fielder in recent times. In 2020, New Zealand took the field as a fielder against India during an ODI game while serving as an assistant coach.

England batting first:

Talking about the ongoing game in Dharamsala, England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first. The visitors have made one change to their playing eleven for the fifth and final Test. Fast-bowler Mark Wood has replaced Robinson in the playing eleven.

At the time of writing this report, England were on 64 for no loss in the 18th over with Zak Crawley batting on 36 and Ben Duckett unbeaten on 27. The tourists have already lost the five-match series and will be looking to finish their tour of India on a high.

The Ben St0kes-led side stunningly started the tour by winning the first Test in Hyderabad. However, India bounced back in style and won the next three games to take an unassailable 3-1 lead.

“It’s another opportunity to represent our country. Great experience for the boys to be part of this series and they have shown great character in their fight,” Stokes said at the toss.

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