England won the toss and opted to bat first as skipper Ben Stokes was hopeful of utilising the fresh wicket as much as they could in the first Test against in Hyderabad on Thursday, January 25. England had already announced their line-up on the eve of the game while India's line-up too was all but set with Virat Kohli unavailable apart from the choice of the third spinner and the hosts have decided to go with Axar Patel, who had a dream debut series against this very side three years ago.
Kohli was the notable absentee from India's line-up that played in South Africa apart from the addition of the two spinners among three changes. Kohli pulled out of the series owing to personal reasons and the BCCI in a release extended its support to the batting stalwart. "Virat has spoken to Captain Rohit Sharma, the team management and the selectors and has emphasized that while representing the country has always been his top priority, certain personal situations demand his presence and undivided attention," BCCI in a release had said.
Kohli's absence provided an opportunity for Shreyas Iyer in the middle order yet again. If the former India captain had been in the line-up, the 29-year-old would have most likely sat out. KL Rahul is going to play just as a specialist batter and KS Bharat will be keeping the wickets.
For England, it will be interesting to see their bowling plans given they have just one pace bowling option in the attack in the form of Mark Wood and how their spinners bowl, if and when the surface starts to grip.
India's playing XI for 1st Test against England: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Mohammed Siraj
