LEEDS: England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to field in the first Test against India at Headingley on Friday.
With the match starting beneath sunny, blue skies and the pitch only showing a tinge of green, conditions appeared good for batting in the opening match of this five-Test series.
But Stokes, explaining his decision to bowl first, said: “Headingley is generally a good cricket wicket, we have had some good games here over the years so we will look to use the early conditions and get a bit out of it (the pitch).”
England had already named their side, making two changes to the team that beat Zimbabwe by an innings inside three days at Trent Bridge.
Experienced paceman Chris Woakes returns in place of the injured Gus Atkinson and fast bowler Brydon Carse makes his home debut.
India gave a Test debut to Sai Sudharsan, listed to come in at number three with new captain Shubman Gill slotting in at number four.
India are bidding for just a third Test series win in England following triumphs in 1971, 1986 and 2007, with Gill saying: “Preparation has been amazing, I think all the boys are feeling in a good space mentally and physically.”
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This match, the first of five Tests in seven weeks, marks the start of a new cycle in the World Test Championship after South Africa beat Australia in last week’s final at Lord’s.
Both teams wore black armbands in memory of the victims of an Air India plane crash in the western city of Ahmedabad that killed all but one of 242 people on board.
Teams
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wkt), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
India: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (capt), Rishabh Pant (wkt), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Paul Reiffel (AUS
TV Umpire: Sharfuddoula (BAN)
Match Referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)
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