India vs England, 3rd Test: Toss result and playing XIs for today's match, umpires list and pitch report
India will take on England at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot in the third Test that starts on Thursday, February 15. The five-match series, which has lived up to the hype so far, is level at 1-1. England made a strong comeback in the opening Test in Hyderabad to clinch the match by 28 runs. The hosts hit back with a 106-run triumph in Visakhapatnam.
India will be forced to go in with a weakened batting line-up for the third Test in Rajkot. Virat Kohli remains unavailable due to personal reasons, while KL Rahul has failed to recover in time for the Rajkot Test from his quadriceps strain. There will be additional responsibility on skipper Rohit Sharma to perform with the willow. Among bowlers, Ravichandran Ashwin is one short of completing 500 Test scalps.
For England, captain Ben Stokes will be playing in his landmark 100th Test. The visitors again named their playing XI a day ahead of the Test, picking two pacers in Mark Wood and James Anderson. They will, however, be without the services of experienced left-arm spinner Jack Leach, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the series.
IND vs ENG 3rd Test toss result
India have won the toss and have decided to bat first. The hosts have handed debut caps to Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel. Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja are back, while Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar miss out.
Stokes confirmed that he too would have batted first. He said that the 1-1 scoreline is a fair reflection of how the series has gone so far.
IND vs ENG 3rd Test match playing XIs
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson
IND vs ENG 3rd Test pitch report
According to Deep Dasgupta and Nick Knight, the pitch looks an absolutely fantastic surface. They feel that the green tinge in the surface will assist the quick bowlers. There are some dry cracks, but the duo reckons that the pitch is hard. Not much for the spinners for the first couple of days, the experts feel.
IND vs ENG 3rd Test match players list
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Srikar Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, Akash Deep
England squad: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir, Ollie Robinson, Daniel Lawrence, Gus Atkinson
IND vs ENG 3rd Test match umpires
On-field umpires: Joel Wilson, Kumar Dharmasena
TV umpire: Rod Tucker
Match Referee: Jeff Crowe