"We are a very unique side" - England coach Marcus Trescothick makes bizarre claim after batting failure in Dharamsala

England’s assistant coach Marcus Trescothick made a bizarre claim after the team’s batting failure in the ongoing fifth Test against India at Dharamsala. He said that they are very unique side and they won’t read much into what the India team did on Day 1.

England had a torrid outing on Day 1 of the ongoing fifth Test against India. They were outplayed by Team India with both bat and ball. They won the toss and opted to bat first and with the kind of start they had, it seemed that they would pile up a big total.

Zak Crawley (79) and Ben Duckett (27) yet again stitched another fifty-plus partnership for the team and provided a great platform. They added 64 runs together for the opening stand and put the opposition under pressure with their solid start.

However, the wicket of Ben Duckett triggered the English collapse as they lost quick wickets. Although Zak Crawley hit a valiant half-century no other player from the team couldn’t get the set the stage on fire at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala.

Joe Root (26), Jonny Bairstow (29), and Ben Foakes (24) had started but they couldn’t cash on the start they got as England suffered a terrible collapse. They were reduced from 100/2 to 175/6 and then were bundled out for just 218 runs on a good batting track.

Marcus Trescothick said that England doesn’t look too down when they have bad days as they will look at what they can do better. He was optimistic about his team making a strong comeback on Day 2. Speaking to reporters, Marcus Trescothick explained:

“We are a very unique side in how we go about things. I don’t think we will study what India do too much. We don’t get too down when we have bad days, we don’t get too high when we have good days. You just have to stay level and recognise what you can do better. Hopefully, we come back and improve.”

We just didn’t get those partnerships – Marcus Trescothick

England’s assistant coach Marcus Trescothick further looked at the positive things that Ben Stokes-led side did on Day 2, saying that they batted well till lunch and also praised Zak Crawley.

Marcus Trescothick further admitted that they didn’t bat after that as they didn’t build the partnerships that they needed. He concluded by saying that it was a challenging day for the team. Marcus Trescothick added:

“We had some good things – the way we played up until lunch when the ball swung around more than we expected, Crawley getting that score. We just didn’t get those partnerships going to get a big score and put the total on the board we needed to. It was a challenging day, no doubt about that.”

After England got bundled out for 218 runs, Indian openers Rohit Sharma (52*) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (57) added 104 runs partnership. At stumps on Day 1, India was 135-1 with Rohit and Shubman Gill (26*) unbeaten at the crease. England would be keen to make a comeback now on Day 2 and put the team under pressure.