Washington Sundar and Virat Kohli
England have decided to bat first, said Joe Root on Wednesday as the visitors won the toss in the third Test against India at the revamped newly renamed Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
England also made four changes to their Playing XI, with the Jofra Archer-James Anderson duo coming in to strengthen their bowling unit in the Day-Night affair. Jonny Bairstow and Zak Crawley have also been added to England's Playing XI.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah has replaced Mohammed Siraj while Washington Sundar has come in place of Kuldeep Yadav. Skipper Virat Kohli said that India wanted to go with a spin-bowling option who can contribute with the bat as well.
"I am a bit worried about the lights. We have played in a similar stadium in Dubai. You need to adapt pretty quickly. Bumrah comes in for Siraj and Washington Sundar comes in for Kuldeep Yadav. We wanted to have a spinning option and Washi provides a lot with the bat as well," said Kohli at the toss.
Speedster Ishant Sharma will be playing his 100th Test, becoming the second Indian pacer after Kapil Dev to achieve this milestone. Ishant had made his Test debut for India in 2007 at the tender of age 18 and has since come a long way having established himself as a vital part of India's red-ball contingent.
After one win each in the four-Test series, both the teams will be eyeing to gain the lead at a virgin Motera strip. Earlier, the Motera -- the world's largest cricket venue -- was renamed Narendra Modi Stadium during the inauguration ceremony.
The stadium can host 1,10,000 spectators, which is the largest among cricket stadiums, going past the 90,000-mark of the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia. Spread over 63 acres, the stadium has been built at an estimated cost of Rs 800 crore and with a seating capacity for 1,32,000 spectators.
England (Playing XI): Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root(c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes(w), Jofra Archer, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
