England win toss, decide to bat first against India in 1st Test

HYDERABAD: Ben Stokes' England won the toss and decided to bat first against Rohit Sharma-led India in the first Test match of the five-game series at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday. India skipper Rohit Sharma already stated that the way England plays isn't their concern but the story of the five-match series will be 'Bazball' against spin.

The last time England ended with a series win on Indian soil was in 2012 when Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen batted to perfection but the series fell in the visitors' favour because of Monty Panesar, Graeme Swann and James Anderson's heroics with the ball.

Since then only Australia managed to almost draw a Test series on Indian soil in 2016/17. While the spin against 'Bazball' will unfold, India batter Shubman Gill will find himself in the spotlight as he looks to establish himself in the No. 3 spot, which belonged to Cheteshwar Pujara till 2023.

"We are gonna have a bat. It's typical conditions in India. The preparation has been really good. We know the challenge, India is a successful side. We have Hartley making his debut, Rehan has played only one side, but they have a good leader in Leach. Woody is that X-factor bowler," Stokes said at the toss.

On the other hand, Rohit said, "We would have batted as well. Looks dry. Whether we bowl or bat first, we have the skills and we got the guys to do the job. A good series, I am playing for the first time a five-match series. We have played in these conditions before. We know what to do, it's all about executing your skills. We've got three spinners and two seamers. It was a tough one (to leave Kuldeep Yadav) Axar has done well and bats really well in these conditions. Probably the reason we went with Axar."

England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes (Wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Jack Leach.

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Srikar Bharat (Wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.