Rishabh Pant drops a catch of Rory Burns in Chennai on Friday.
Indian team lost an early chance to take advantage on the opening day of their first Test against England after Rishabh Pant dropped Rory Burns at 1 off Jasprit Bumrah's first ball of the match in Chennai on Friday.
The incident happened as early as the seventh ball of the game when England had just one run on the board. To some respite to Pant, the catch could be called a 50-50 opportunity as the Australian series hero had to made full-stretched dive to his right to reach the ball.
Earlier, England won the toss and opted to bat in the first Test of the after India, for justifiable reasons, made reasonable changes to the side which took on Australia in the final Test in Brisbane last month.
A plethora of injuries saw India field a rookie pace attack, with all of the side’s first-choice bowlers out with injuries. Jasprit Bumrah has returned to the side for the first Test in England, and so did Ravichandran Ashwin and Ishant Sharma.
Among spinners, Washington Sundar has also retained his place, courtesy a stellar outing in the Brisbane Test. After Axar Patel was ruled out of the first Test with knee pain, Shahbaz Nadeem has been included in the XI - the left-arm spinner makes his second Test appearance for India.
Among batsmen, Indian captain Virat Kohli makes a comeback to the side after he returned to India in December, following the first Test against Australia in Adelaide. As he returns to the side, Rahane will assume his original position in the batting order as number-5 batsman.
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will open the innings for the side, Cheteshwar Pujara, Kohli and Rahane constitute the rest of the top-5. Rishabh Pant also retains his place in the side as the wicketkeeper-batsman, following a Man of the Match performance against Australia in the Brisbane Test.
India will host England in four Tests, five T20Is and three ODIs. While the first two Tests take place in Chennai, the remaining two are scheduled at the revamped Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.
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, Shahbaz Nadeem
