England captain Joe Root won the toss and elected to field in the third Test against India at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, on Saturday. This was the third toss in a row that Root won.
The hosts went in with one change - Ben Stokes in for Sam Curran. Indian captain Virat Kohli announced three changes for the hosts. Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik and Kuldeep Yadav made way for Shikhar Dhawan, Jasprit Bumrah debutant Rishabh Pant.
Thw wicket at Trent Bridgeon Saturday had a generous coverage of grass, both green and brown. Root stated during the toss that he expected it to do a bit in the first session on Day. "Nice covering of live grass, we've done well with the ball, and we'll be looking to pick up quick wickets," he said.
Kohli was happy to bat first. The under-pressure skipper said he wanted to have runs on the board first up. "We wanted to bat first. The surface looks really hard. Good grass cover. Good cricket wicket. Important to not worry in the first hour and be fresh, and to just go out there and express ourselves. Putting runs on the board on any wicket is important," he said.
The big news, of course, was the inclusion of 20-year-old Pant. Thw explosive keeper-batsman has a great opportunity in front of him to establish himself in the Indian team.
Here are the playing XIs
India: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (w), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah.
England: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (c), Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow (w), Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
