England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick made a strange claim after the team’s batting failure in the ongoing fifth Test against India in Dharamsala. He said that they are a unique team and will not read much into what Team India did on Day 1.
England had a torrid outing on Day 1 of the ongoing fifth Test against India. They were outclassed by the Indian team with both bat and ball. They won the toss and opted to bat first and with the kind of start they had, it looked like they would put up a big total.
Zak Crawley (79) and Ben Duckett (27) once again formed another fifty-plus partnership for the team and provided a great platform. They added 64 runs together for the opening stand and put pressure on the opposition with their solid start.
However, Ben Duckett’s wicket caused the English collapse as they lost quick wickets. Although Zak Crawley bravely scored a half-century, no other player in the team could set the stage at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on fire.
Joe Root (26), Jonny Bairstow (29) and Ben Foakes (24) had started but were unable to capitalize on the start they had as England suffered a terrible collapse. They were reduced from 100/2 to 175/6 and then were bowled out for just 218 runs on a good batting track.
Marcus Trescothick said England don’t look too down when they have bad days as they will see what they can do better. He was optimistic that his team would make a strong comeback on Day 2. Speaking to reporters, Marcus Trescothick explained:
“We are a unique team in the way we do things. I don’t think we study too much what India does. We don’t get too depressed when we have bad days, nor do we get too excited when we have good days. You just have to keep up and recognize what you can do better. I hope we come back and improve.”
We just don’t get those partnerships – Marcus Trescothick
England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick further analyzed the positive things the Ben Stokes-led team did on Day 2, saying they batted well until lunch and also praised Zak Crawley.
Marcus Trescothick further admitted that they didn’t bat after that because they didn’t build the partnerships 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 until lunch, when the ball turned more than we expected and Crawley got that score. We just couldn’t get those associations to score big and put the total on the board that we needed. “It was a challenging day, there’s no doubt about that.”
After England were bowled out for 218 runs, Indian openers Rohit Sharma (52*) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (57) added 104 runs together. On the first day, India were 135-1 with Rohit and Shubman Gill (26*) unbeaten at the crease. England would be eager to come back now on Day 2 and put pressure on the team.
