India vs England, 1st Test: Toss result and playing XIs for today's match, umpires list and pitch report
India are taking on England at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad in the first Test of the five-match series in what will be chapter one of Bazball vs Indian spinners. The opening Test often sets the tone for a series, so it would be interesting to observe how the first match pans out.
The hosts will start the series as favorites having not lost a Test series at home since England defeated them 2-1 in 2012. However, Rohit Sharma admitted at the pre-match press conference that he doesn’t believe India are unbeatable at home. Team India will be without Virat Kohli for the first two matches, so that is an area England will look to exploit.
As hinted earlier, the contest is being billed as a tussle between India’s spinners and England’s aggressive batters. All the critics and fans are waiting to see if Bazball can work in India. Meanwhile, the visitors made an interesting move while announcing their playing XI, leaving out James Anderson and picking three spinners.
IND vs ENG 1st Test toss result
England have won the toss and have decided to bat first. Speaking about the decision, Ben Stokes said:
“Typical conditions here in India, never know what you're going to get though. We'll try and put a big score on the board batting first.”
India captain Rohit admitted that he too would have batted first. The hosts have picked Axar Patel ahead of Kuldeep Yadav as the third spinner owing to the former’s batting ability.
IND vs ENG 1st Test match playing XIs
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, Ben Stokes, (c) Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed, Mark Wood, Jack Leach.
IND vs ENG 1st Test pitch report
According to Murali Kartik and Kevin Pietersen, the pitch has dry edges close to the bat and will turn for sure. The duo added that there is an even covering of grass in the middle of the surface, but pointed out that it’s dry underneath. They also predicted that spinners would come into the game very soon.
IND vs ENG 1st Test match players list
India squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Srikar Bharat, Dhruv Jurel, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Yadav.
England squad: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (w), Mark Wood, Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, Tom Hartley, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Daniel Lawrence, Gus Atkinson.
IND vs ENG 1st Test match umpires
On-field umpires: Chris Gaffaney, Paul Reiffel
TV umpire: Marais Erasmus
Match Referee: Richie Richardson