Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 5 (ANI): England skipper Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat in the first Test against India at MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Friday.
This Test will mark the resumption of international cricket in India after a gap of more than 11 months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Root will be playing his landmark 100th Test for his country while Jos Buttler is playing his 50th Test for England.
India skipper Virat Kohli will be playing his first Test after becoming a father. Kohli returned from Australia tour after the first Test for the birth of his first child.
Both the teams are coming after heroics in their last Test tours. India won the series in Australia 2-1 despite facing many challenges while England outplayed Sri Lanka 2-0.
India are playing with three spinners and two pacers. Shahbaz Nadeem and Ishant Sharma come in for the hosts.
On the other hand, England have brought in Rory Burns in place of injured Zak Crawley while Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Ollie Pope come into the side.
India playing XI: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem.
England playing XI: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Dan Lawrence, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, Dom Bess, Jofra Archer, Jack Leach, James Anderson. (ANI)
