The touring English side won the toss ahead of the 1st Test against India at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad and opted to have a bat first.
The game marks the beginning of a five-match Test series between the sides on Indian soil.
Toss UpdateEngland win the toss in Hyderabad and elect to bat in the 1st #INDvENG Test.
Fast bowler Avesh Khan has been released to play for his Ranji trophy team, Madhya Pradesh for their next Ranji Trophy fixture.
Rajat Patidar has joined the team as Virat Kohli’s… pic.twitter.com/g9TfcLZZvs
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 25, 2024
“We are gonna have a bat. It’s typical conditions in India,” England skipper Ben Stokes said after the toss went his way.
“The preparation has been really good. We know the challenge, India is a successful side,”
Englishman Tom Hartley was named in the side’s playing XI as the bowler was handed his Test debut. Stokes also spoke about the bowling unit while talking about Rehan Ahmed and termed Mark Wood as their trump card ahead of the game.
“We have Hartley making his debut, Rehan has played only one side, but they have a good leader in Leach. Woody is that X-factor bowler,” the 32-year-old said.
Team Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said that he would have opted to bat first had he won the toss as well, but added that the Indian unit has what it takes to get the job done.
“We would have batted as well. The wicket looks dry. Whether we bowl or bat first, we have the skills and we got the guys to do the job,” Rohit said.
“We have played in these conditions before. We know what to do, it’s all about executing your skills,” the skipper added.
Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been left out of the team for the fixture as Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja will be on spin duty for the opening game of the series.
“We’ve got three spinners and two seamers – Bumrah, Siraj, Axar, Jadeja and Ashwin,” Rohit said.
“Axar has done well and bats really well in these conditions. That is probably the reason we went with Axar,” the captain said.
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Ben Foakes(w), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Jack Leach
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