Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat first in Rajkot. Rohit made four changes to the winning combination. Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel got their debut caps. Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj returned to the side replacing Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar. An out-of-form wicketkeeper-batter Srikar Bharat has been dropped from the side.
“We're going to bat first. We've made some changes, made four changes. Some injuries and some guys coming back from the last game. Two debutants. Siraj and Jadeja are back. Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar miss out,” Rohit said at the coin toss.
“Looks a good pitch, better than the last two we've played on. Rajkot is known to be a good pitch but it'll deteriorate as it goes. The guys have stood up and done the job for the team when it was needed. The next three Test matches will be as exciting as the first two. Need to keep our focus here and see how we can do well.”
England announced their team a day before the Test. Ben Stokes made just one change to the squad by bringing back pacer Mark Wood in place of young off-spinner Shoaib Bashir.
“We would've batted first too. (On playing his 100th Test) Time flies when you're having fun. The series has been a fair reflection of both teams, we've been very happy with the way we've gone about things in the first two Tests,” Stokes said.
“We had a nice break, gave everyone a chance to relax. There was no cricket, we got the families out, it was great. Being here for so long is both physically and mentally demanding. Was a nice opportunity to put the feet up and get some time away from cricket. In Test matches there are only so many moments that you seize the game in and that's what India did in the last one.”
India vs England Playing XIs
England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Yashavsi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz Khan, Rajat Patidar, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
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