Rajkot | India won the toss and elected to bat against England in the third Test of the five-match series here on Thursday.
The series is locked at 1-1 as England captain Ben Stokes is appearing in his 100th Test here.
India handed debuts to middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan, a heavy scorer in domestic cricket for Mumbai, and young wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel, who will replace KS Bharat in the playing eleven.
England have brought back pacer Mark Wood in place of young spinner Shoaib Bashir.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson.
Captain Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja slammed centuries under pressure in a 204-run partnership as India recovered from a jittery start to pile 326 for 5 on the opening day of the third Test against England here on Thursday.
England pacer Mark Wood (3/69) removed last match double centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) and Shubman Gill (0) in successive overs, while left-arm spinner Tom Hartley (1/81) accounted for Rajat Patidar (5) to reduced India to 33/3 after Rohit opted to bat.
But, Rohit, after being dropped on 27 by Joe Root, went on to score 131 off 196 balls (14x4, 3x6) for his first century in 11 innings to lead by example.
Promoted to No. 5, Jadeja remained unbeaten on 110 off 212 balls (9x4, 2x6).
After Rohit's departure, Sarfaraz Khan struck a sublime 48-ball 50, the fastest on Test debut by an Indian. But his impressive innings was cut short following a run out after Jadeja, on 99, sent him back at the non-striker's end.
Sarfaraz ended up scoring a 66-ball 62 (9x4, 1x6) in his maiden Test innings.
Nightwatchman Kuldeep Yadav was unbeaten on 1 off 10 balls at stumps.
The series is currently tied 1-1.
Brief Scores:
India 326 for 5 from 86 overs (Rohit Sharma 131, Ravindra Jadeja 110 batting, Sarfaraz Khan 62; Mark Wood 3/69)
Scoreboard at the end of the opening day of third Test between India and England here on Thursday.
India 1st Innings
Yashasvi Jaiswal c Root b Wood 10
Rohit Sharma c Stokes b Wood 131
Shubman Gill c Foakes b Wood 0
Rajat Patidar c Duckett b Hartley 5
Ravindra Jadeja batting 110
Sarfaraz Khan run out 62
Kuldeep Yadav batting 1
Extras (B-1, LB-3, NB-2, W-1) 7
Total (For five wickets in 86 overs) 326/5 Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-24, 3-33, 4-237, 5-314 Bowling: James Anderson 19-5-51-0, Mark Wood 17-2-69-3, Tom Hartley 23-3-81-1, Joe Root 13-1-68-0, Rehan Ahmed 14-0-53-0
