England captain Ben Stokes won the all-important toss and elected to bat in the 5th Test against India at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on March 7 (Thursday). The Three Lions made one change to their playing XI with Ollie Robinson making way for Mark Wood. Rohit Sharma made two changes to the playing XI as Jasprit Bumrah and Devdutt Padikkal made their way into the team in place of Akash Deep and Rajat Patidar. Padikkal became the 314th player to play Test cricket for India.
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir.
100th Test for Ashwin and Bairstow
India's Ravichandran Ashwin and England's Jonny Bairstow will feature in their 100 Test match when the duo steps out on the field in Dharamsala. It will be the fourth instance in cricket history that two players will mark their 100th Test in the same match.
Meanwhile, India upheld their impressive record at home by clinching the series victory in Ranchi. Now, they are seeking another positive outcome to bolster their position in the World Test Championships (WTC) standings.
Conditions in Dharamsala
The pitch conditions and the cold weather, which has made the English players feel at home, are the main topics of discussion leading up to the game. The temperature is expected to remain around 10 degrees Celsius for the first two days before rising over the weekend. The pitch appeared flat on the eve of the game, but the moisture underneath will maintain the interest of pacers during the early hours of play each day.
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