England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first in 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 tenure, will be looking to salvage pride and compete for 12 ICC World Test Championship points.
This match holds significance as it is the 100th Test match for Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin and England batter Jonny Bairstow.
Mark Wood has joined England’s playing eleven, and Jasprit Bumrah has returned to India’s lineup after being rested in the 4th Test, replacing Akash Deep. Unfortunately, Rajat Patidar is missing the test due to an ankle injury that he sustained in practice, and Devdutt Padikkal is 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 shown 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 Sharma at 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.