(AP) — England won the toss and opted to bat first in the first test against India at Trent Bridge on Wednesday.
Jonny Bairstow and Dan Lawrence took their places in England’s middle order against an India attack that did not include Ravichandran Ashwin.
Ollie Pope was not fully fit from a calf injury so Bairstow was fifth and Lawrence sixth.
England went in without a frontline spinner for the third test in a row, as Jack Leach missed out in favor of an all-seam line-up comprising James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Sam Curran and Ollie Robinson.
It is Robinson’s first time back since serving a ban for having sent offensive tweets between 2012-14.
The five-match series follows India’s 3-1 series win in March when Joe Root’s touring side failed to get to grips with turning surfaces and the spin duo of Ashwin and Axar Patel.
England: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Dan Lawrence, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.
