India won the toss and chose to bat first against England under a bright sky in the third test at Headingley on Wednesday.
India captain Virat Kohli said the wicket was “nice and firm,” and added: “Runs on the board will be crucial to set up the test match.”
India leads the five-match series 1-0 after its 151-run victory at Lord’s and has only once won more than a single test match in a tour of England, in 1986.
While India was unchanged from Lord’s, England brought in Craig Overton for injured paceman Mark Wood and Dawid Malan — the No. 1 batsman in Twenty20 international cricket — for Dom Sibley, who was dropped from the squad.
Malan will bat at No. 3, meaning Haseeb Hameed will jump one place to open.
England: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Craig Overton, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson.
India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj.
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