1st Test: England elect to bat, India include left-arm spinner Nadeem

Team Udayavani, Feb 5, 2021, 9:46 AM IST

Chennai: England captain Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat in the first Test against India at the M A Chidambaram stadium here on Friday.

For India, veteran pacer Ishant Sharma and seasoned left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem are back in the playing XI along with regular skipper Virat Kohli who is back from paternity break. Star all-rounder Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Rory Burns returned to the side after missing the series in Sri Lanka while Zak Crawley misses out due to injury. England picked James Anderson over Stuart Broad in the eleven.

Root is playing the 100th Test match of his career after having made his debut during the series against India in 2012.

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishab Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Shahbaz Nadeem. England: Joe Root (captain), Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Ollie Pope, Dan Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Jofra Archer, Dom Bess, James Anderson, Jack Leach.