India bat against England in first Test

NOTTINGHAM India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat against England on a sunny morning in the first Test at Nottingham´s Trent Bridge ground on Wednesday.

England made one change from the side that lost the second Test against Sri Lanka by 100 runs at Headingley last month, a result that saw the Lankans win their first series on English soil, when they recalled Ben Stokes in place of fellow all-rounder Chris Jordan.

Stokes returned after missing the Sri Lanka series with a self-inflicted wrist injury suffered when he punched a dressing-room locker after making a golden duck in Bridgetown, Barbados, in March.

Meanwhile wicketkeeper Matt Prior was passed fit following a thigh injury which had seen England bring in Jos Buttler as cover.

India gave a Test debut to 30-year-old seam-bowling all-rounder Stuart Binny, the son of 1983 World Cup-winner Roger Binny who also starred in India´s victorious tour of England in 1986 -- one of only three Indian Test series victories on English soil together with their 1971 and 2007 successes.

Stuart Binny, who only played the first of his four one-day internationals this year, was selected after impressing during the past three seasons with Karnataka after making a name for himself in the now defunct Indian Cricket League.

Binny´s inclusion meant India fielded a five-man attack, with four seamers backed up by left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.

England have not won any of their last eight Tests while it is more than three years since India won a Test away from home, a run now stretching to 14 matches and including 10 defeats.

This match was the first of a five-Test series. It was the first time India had played a five-Test series in England since they were thrashed 5-0 back in 1959.India´s last Test tour of England saw them beaten 4-0 in a four-match series in 2011.

England: Alastair Cook (captain), Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Matt Prior (wkt), Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, Liam Plunkett, James Anderson

India: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/wkt), Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI) and Bruce Oxenford (AUS)TV umpire: Ian Gould (ENG)Match referee: David Boon (AUS)
(AFP)