India have won the toss and elected to bat first in the second Test of the five-match series against England at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.
After winning the toss, skipper Virat Kohli admitted that the wicket is challenging for the batsmen, but added that his side would try to put decent score on the board.
"It's a typical Vizag wicket.This will be challenging for the batters. Now we need to put decent runs on the board," the swashbuckling batsman said.
As far as playing XI is concerned, Jayant Yadav has been given his Test cap, so the offspinner is all set to make his debut on the same ground where he made his ODI bow.
Yadav has been brought in place of Amit Mishra while KL Rahul has also been retained in the squad after recovering fully from his hamstring injury.
For England, skipper Alastair Cook confirmed that pace spearhead James Anderson returns in place of Chris Woakes, who has been left out as part of the rotating of the quick bowlers.
India's spinners will aim for an improved show on a comparatively more helpful track while England will aim to put up similar dominant performance as they had shown in the first Test.
Earlier, the opening match between the two sides ended in a dramatic draw after skipper Kohli (unbeaten at 49) and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (unbeaten at 32) defended stoutly and saved the blushes for their side.
The Test squads are as follows:
India Playing XI: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav.
England Playing XI: Alastair Cook (captain), Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Johnny Bairstow, Zafar Ansari, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
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