England win toss, opt to bat against India

England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the opening Test of a five-match series on Thursday.

The tourists named their XI on the eve of the match in Hyderabad and handed left-arm spinner Tom Hartley his first Test cap.

England have brought in three specialist spinners as well as Joe Root, a veteran batsman who also bowls.

Mark Wood remains the only fast bowler in the team, who Stokes called an “X-factor” on a pitch that is expected to assist the spinners.

India, who remain unbeaten at home in a Test series since 2012 when Alastair Cook’s England beat them 2-1, come in with three spinners and two seamers.

Skipper Rohit Sharma said he would have opted to bat as well had he won the toss but believes they have “got the skills, (and) got guys who can do the job”.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel gets the nod ahead of Kuldeep Yadav’s left-arm wrist spin, which Rohit admitted was a “tough” call.

Uncapped batsman Rajat Patidar has joined the squad as a replacement for Virat Kohli, who withdrew from the first two Tests due to “personal reasons”.

England spinner Shoaib Bashir is not in the line-up for the first Test but has received his visa for India and will join the touring team this weekend, the country’s cricket board said late Wednesday.

Teams

India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Srikar Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Jack Leach

Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Paul Reiffel (AUS)

TV Umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA)

Match Referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)