India have won the toss and have opted to bat first against England at Vizag. Uncapped spinner Shoaib Bashir comes in as a replacement for the injured Jack Leach while the veteran James Anderson has replaced express pacer Mark Wood in the team. Leach did well for England in the first Test but injured himself ahead of the second match in Visakhapatnam. Bashir, who was unavailable for selection in the first match due to a visa issue, will make his Test debut in the match.
The 41-year-old Anderson last featured against Australia at The Oval in July 2023.The visitors are 1-0 up in the series after a 28-run win in Hyderabad and will face hosts on Friday at the Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in the second match of the series. For India Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar has been excluded from the squad.
