Internet Desk: England skipper Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat against India in the third cricket Test at PCA stadium, Mohali on Saturday.
The hosts made two changes, with Karun Nair replacing an injured KL Rahul and Parthiv Patel coming in for Wriddhiman Saha. The wicket-keeper is making a come-back in the Indian team after a gap of almost 8 years.
Rahul sustained a blow to his left fore-arm while fielding in the second test at Vizag. His injury got exaggerated while batting in the nets yesterday. He felt uncomfortable while batting. The BCCI medical team advised him to take rest in order to fully recover from the injury.
Karun Nair got rewarded for his consistent performance in domestic circuit. The Karnataka batsman made a superb debut couple of seasons back in first class cricket scoring three consecutive centuries. His contributions were significant in helping Karnataka win the Ranji and Irani Trophy in 2014. He ended the season with 494 runs in six matches at an average of 61.75.
The Karnataka batsman also scored a scintillating knock of 328 runs in the 2015 Ranji Trophy final against Tamil Nadu, to help his side win the title.
In the current Ranji season, he has amassed 326 runs in just three matches at an average of 108.66, which included three half centuries and a century.
England also has made three changes to their playing XI. Injured Stuart Boad, struggling Ben Duckett and ineffective Zafar Ansari have been replaced by Chris Woakes, Jos Buttler and Garreth Batty.
India is currently leading the five-match series 1-0.
Teams:
India: Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav.
England: Alastair Cook (capt), Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Garreth Batty, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid and James Anderson.