Pacer Akash Deep makes his debut for India as England won the toss and elected to bat first against India on Day 1 of the fourth Test here on Friday.
India are 2-1 ahead in the five-match Test series, and they would clinch the series by defeating England.
After losing the toss, India Captain Rohit Sharma said he would have batted first as the deck looked a bit dry and had cracks.
“The last two games were good for us and we’ll have to play the same way. Proud of a lot of young guys in the squad, they’ve taken responsibility and have taken the challenge head-on. One change with Akash Deep making his debut,” he said.
England Captain Ben Stokes said the first hour would give them an idea about how the pitch would play, but it was always going to be a bat-first track. “I am happy with the way we have operated through the series and looking forward to more of the same,” he said.
Akash, the Bengal pacer, is replacing Jasprit Bumrah as the senior pro has been rested to manage his workload.
Akash is coming into the Test after his maiden first-class ten-wicket haul in the Ranji Trophy match against Bihar on a seam-friendly Eden Gardens track last week. He is more in the mould of Mohammad Shami with his upright seam and is quicker and tends to hit the deck harder.
Akash also had put up an impressive show for India A against England Lions, where he picked 11 wickets in two matches at 16.95 and it included two four-wicket hauls.
Teams:
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Ollie Robinson, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson.
India Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj.
Changes:
England – In: Ollie Robinson, Shoaib Bashir | Out: Mark Wood, Rehan Ahmed
India – In: Akash Deep | Out: Jasprit Bumrah
