Chennai: England have won the toss and decided to bat first against India at the Chepauk Stadium here Friday. Earlier in the day Axar Patel was ruled out of the Test due to an injury on his leg. India have included Shahbaz Nadeem in place of Axar Patel who was all set to make his Test debut. Also Washington Sundar will make his home Test debut when he takes the field Friday. In spite of Mohammed Siraj’s form in Australia, he will still have to wait for some more time before playing his first home Test. The experienced Ishant Sharma was preferred to him when India announced their playing XI.
Talking on his decision to bat England captain Joe Root said: “This wicket will deteriorate. So we want to make good use of it in the first innings. I do enjoy playing in India. It’s a big challenge and the boys will have to relish it.”
Kohli after the toss said: “It’s a hard surface and we would have batted first too. Good cricketing wicket.”
India squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shahbaz Nadeem, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah.
England squad: Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Joe Root (captain), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wicket-keeper), Dom Bess, Jofra Archer, Jack Leach, 11 James Anderson.
