ENG vs IND 1st Test: England win toss, opt to bat first; KL Rahul to open for India, THESE two players miss out

England have won the toss and chosen to bat first against India in the first Test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Skipper Joe Root said that the wicket looked reasonable and was hoping for his batsmen to capitalise if they get off to a good start.

Team India skipper Virat Kohli said that he would have liked to bat first as well but said that they would like to get in with the ball in the first session and hoped for quick breakthroughs.

Both teams made a few changes from the last time when they played the red-ball game, England against New Zealand in the two-match series and India also against New Zealand in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

While England went in with four seamers including the likes of Sam Curran and Ollie Robinson, they also included Jonny Bairstow in the order at No 5. 

India, on the other hand, had several changes starting from the top till the tail. With Shubman Gill out and Mayank Agarwal ruled out of the first Test, KL Rahul was slotted at the top with Ravindra JAdeja being the only spinner and Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin were the two key missouts as India went with Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Shardul Thakur.

Playing XIs

England: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root(c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler(w), Dan Lawrence, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Stuart Broad

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Preview

Team India will be starting their fresh campaign for the World Test Championship (WTC) as they face England on the 4th of August in the 1st Test match between them at Nottingham. India and England will play 5-match Test series as a part of the second cycle of the World Test Championship 2023.

The Virat Kohli-led side had an excellent last cycle of the WTC but unfortunately ended up losing the final to New Zealand in Southampton.

India has called Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav as they suffered blows of Washington Sundar, Avesh Khan, Shubman Gill, and now Mayank Agarwal due to injuries. 

The team will be led by the regular captain Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane being his deputy.

Meanwhile, England lost their last Test series at home to New Zealand by a 0-1 margin. However, England's tour of Sri Lanka was the only successful Test series for them this year. 

As for the Three Lions, they will be without Ben Stokes as he will be taking an indefinite break from all cricket to focus on his mental well-being.