England have won the toss and elected to bat first as the Third Test against India gets underway on Thursday.
Captain Ben Stokes has twice come under fire during this series already for opting to bowl first after winning the toss at both Headingley and Edgbaston, this time opting for a change in approach amid the sunny and hot conditions at Lord’s that should be perfect for batters.
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Per ESPN, it is only the third time in 13 home Tests as England skipper that Stokes has chosen to bat first after insisting this week that Brendon McCullum’s side were not “stuck in their ways” when it comes to usually choosing to bowl.
The decision to bat first means that Jofra Archer will have to wait a little while longer to make his long-awaited Test return, having on Wednesday been named in the red-ball team for the first time in more than four years after a torrid time with a succession of injuries.
He replaces Nottinghamshire’s Josh Tongue in England’s pace attack, with Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse both retained, along with spinner Shoaib Bashir.
Star bowler Jasprit Bumrah returns for India after being rested at Edgbaston, replacing Prasidh Krishna in their only change from a Second Test they won by 336 runs to level the five-match series at 1-1 after England could not dig in for an unlikely draw on the final day having been set a mammoth target of 608, with Akash Deep taking a 10-wicket haul in the match.
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They did manage to chase down 371 to win a thrilling first Test at Headingley last month, however, thanks largely to a magnificent knock of 149 from opener Ben Duckett.
England vs India teams for Third Test
England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir
India XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj
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