Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], March 7 (ANI): England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first during the fifth and final Test against India at Dharamsala’s Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium on Thursday.
India has already won the series 3-1. England, having lost their first series under skipper Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum’s leadership, are playing for their pride. Despite the series being decided, there are valuable 12 ICC World Test Championship points up for grabs. This is also the 100th Test match for Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin and England batter Jonny Bairstow.
England brings in Mark Wood in their playing eleven. On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah comes in and Akash Deep is out of the playing eleven for India. Batter Rajat Patidar will miss the Test after being hit in the ankle during practice and Devdutt Padikkal will be making his Test debut.
During the toss, England skipper Stokes said, “We are going to have a bat. You probably have a bat looking at this pitch. It is another opportunity to represent our country. Great experience for the boys to be part of this series and they have showed great character in their fight. Amazing (Bairstow playing his 100th Test)! Jonny is one of our best-ever all-format players. 100 Test caps show his commitment. Nice moment a few minutes ago when he got the cap with his family around. One change for us. Mark Wood comes in.”
Skipper Rohit also said during the toss, “We would have batted first as well. We have done really well so far in this series and an opportunity to finish on a high. There should be a better bounce on this pitch than in the games before in this series. Good pitch to bat on and I don’t think it will deteriorate that much. Ash has been a real stalwart of Indian cricket. Such a proud moment for him, his nation and his family. We will be rooting for him to do the magic. Bumrah is back, and Akash Deep misses out. Devdutt Padikkal makes his debut as Patidar got injured last evening.”
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes(c), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes(w), Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, Mark Wood, James Anderson
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah. (ANI)
