IND vs ENG, 1st Test Playing XI: Nadeem, Sundar make cut as injured Axar misses out; Stokes, Archer return

India vs England, 1st Test: Local lads Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin booked a slot each in the playing 11 alongside the two pacers in Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma.

FILE PHOTO: England captain Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat.

India left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, in Chennai as part of the standby group of players, was on Friday named in the playing XI after all-rounder Axar Patel was ruled out of the first England Test with a left-knee injury.

Local lads Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin also booked a slot each in the final XI alongside the two pacers in Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma.

FOLLOW |

England skipper Joe Root, playing his 100th Test, won the toss and opted to bat at Chepauk. The 30-year-old named four changes from his side's last Test against Sri Lanka two weeks ago.

While Zak Crawley is injured, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer return after being rested for the Lanka series.

Rory Burns and Ollie Pope are back with Dan Lawrence to feature at No. 3. Dom Bess got the nod ahead of Moeen Ali, who had tested COVID-19 positive a while back.

PLAYING XI India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (w), Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Shahbaz Nadeem England: Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Daniel Lawrence, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (w), Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, Jack Leach, James Anderson