Join us for updates, analysis and color from the first day of the series’ opening
Welcome to our live report on the first day of the first India-England Test from Chennai. Join us for updates, analysis and color. You can find the traditional ball-by-ball statement here
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9.25m: Root will bring up to 100
England captain Joe Root has handed over his 100th test cap with vice-captain Ben Stokes ahead of the play. For our wide coverage of his milestone test, 9.00am: England win toss and bat
“> click here, and don’t forget to check out Polite Questions by the man himself.
9.00am: England win toss and bat
No doubt in choosing to use this first pitch for Joe Root, who is playing his 100th Test today. “I love playing in India. It’s a big challenge and the boys have to enjoy it,” he says. Virat Kohli admits he would have batted first, too, and says it’s a “good cricket wicket”.
For India, the big news this morning is that Axar Patel – who looked like partner R Ashwin as the second spinner – was released 80 minutes before the toss suffered a knee injury in training session yesterday. They have decided to select three spinners in Ashwin, Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Nadeem, with Jasprit Bumrah (playing his first ever home test) and Ishant Sharma attacking two distance.
Zak Crawley misses both the Chennai Tests after suffering a freak wrist injury, so Dan Lawrence holds his place and cards to bat at No. 3. The other big calls: yes Dom Bess plays ahead of Moeen Ali, while Jimmy Anderson prefers Stuart Broad.
Matt Roller is assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets at @ mroller98