Chennai: India won the toss and elected to bat in the second Test against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Saturday.
India have made three changes to the side that lost the first Test. They have rested Jasprit Bumrah and brought in Mohammed Siraj. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who is making his Test debut, and Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav replace left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and off-spinner Washington Sundar, respectively.
For England, pace bowler Stuart Broad comes in for James Anderson, Olly Stone replaces the injured Jofra Archer. Also coming into the side are off-spin bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali in place of Dom Bess and Ben Foakes for Jos Buttler.
“It’s a good wicket. Day One is going to be good for batting. We expect it to slow down from Day Two,” said India captain Virat Kohli.
“We would have batted first as well. We have got to try and take early wickets. Hopefully, we can make some inroads this morning,” said England captain Joe Root.
England won the first Test at the same venue by 227 runs to take 1-0 lead in the four-Test series. India need to at least draw this match to stay in contention for the World Test Championship final.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, CheteshwarPujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj
England: Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Daniel Lawrence, Joe Root (captain), BenStokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes (wicket-keeper), Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Olly Stone.
