Ben Stokes, the captain of England says that he would have batted first as well. Adds that yes, time flies given it is his 100th Test match and he wants to have fun. Mentions that they are happy with how things have gone in the first two Tests and the boys have done well. On the trip to the UAE, he says that they didn't play cricket and rather spent their time with their families. Adds that the great thing about Test matches is that both teams get a chance and they want to continue in the same fashion. Ends by informing that Mark Wood is back in for Shoaib Bashir.

The Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma says that they will bat first. Adds that it looks like a good pitch, surely better than the last two. Tells that Rajkot is known to be a good wicket and it will deteriorate as the game goes on and they want to put the runs on the board. Mentions that someone or the other hand stepped up for them when needed and he is sure that there will be no shortage of excitement in the next three Tests as well. Informs they have made four changes. Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel make their debuts, Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar miss out as Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj come in.

England (Playing XI) - Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes (WK), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood (In for Shoaib Bashir), James Anderson.

India (Playing XI) - Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan (On Test debut, in for Shreyas Iyer), Ravindra Jadeja (In for Axar Patel), Dhruv Jurel (On Test debut, in for KS Bharat) (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj (In for Mukesh Kumar).

TOSS - India have won the toss and they will BAT first.