England won the toss and chose to bat in Chepauk while Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Nadeem were the three spinners for India in addition to R Ashwin.
Joe Root won the toss and chose to bat against India in the first Test at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. This is the first international series that is been played in India amidst the coronavirus pandemic. India made a couple of changes as well with Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Nadeem being three spinners in the side in addition to Ravichandran Ashwin. Ishant Sharma returned to the Indian side after missing the Australia series while Jasprit Bumrah will play his first home Test after success in Australia, South Africa, England and the West Indies. For England, Joe Root said Crawley, Mark Wood, Sam Curran and Jonny Bairstow were missing and they included Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Rory Burns
Before the toss, Joe Root was handed a special cap to mark his 100th Test match. It has been a special occasion for Joe Root who made his debut in India in 2012 in that series in which England won 2-1. Joe Root has a fabulous record in Asia and in India, he has hit a fifty-plus score at least six times in the last two series. Jos Buttler has also been presented a cap for his 50th Test match appearance. Joe Root is also the third youngest to play 100 Tests after Alastair Cook and Sachin Tendulkar.
Plenty at stake
Just before the start of the match, Axar Patel was ruled out for the Test after complaining of knee pain. Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Chahar have been added to the side. In a statement released by the BCCI, it said. "The all-rounder complained of pain in his left knee during Team India’s optional training session on Thursday. He is being monitored by the BCCI Medical Team and while his detailed reports are awaited, he will not be available for selection for the opening match. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has added spinners Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Chahar to India’s squad. Both Nadeem and Chahar have been training with Team India as part of the standby group of players."
India will have to win by a margin of 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1, 4-0 to book the final spot where they will take on New Zealand at Lord's in June 2021. For England, they will have to repeat a feat that has not been achieved in India for the last 38 years. They have to win 3-0, 3-1 or 4-0, in order to qualify for the final at Lord's and this scoreline, has not been achieved by any visiting team barring the West Indies in 1983. England may have won six consecutive Tests in Sri Lanka, but Sri Lanka is no India. England has not won in Chepauk in the last 36 years and apart from their win in 2012, their record is dismal.
Root, who was part of that historic win in 2012, is now going to play his 100th Test. On the other hand, Virat Kohli returns to the side and is set to take back his captaincy after Ajinkya Rahane did a fantastic job in the series in Australia.
Playing 11s
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
England (Playing XI): Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Daniel Lawrence, Joe Root(c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler(w), Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, Jack Leach, James Anderson
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