England opt to bat in third India Test

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England captain Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat against India in the third Test in Mohali on Saturday.

The visitors, who trail the five-match series 1-0, have made three changes to their starting lineup from their previous loss in Visakhapatnam.

With England having already announced the inclusion of Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes in the team, off-spinner Gareth Batty comes in as the sixth bowler.

The Virat Kohli-led side has also made two changes to its team that beat the visitors by 246 runs in the second Test.

Wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel returns to the side after eight years while top-order batsman Karun Nair has been handed his Test debut in place of injured opener Lokesh Rahul.

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Karun Nair, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav

England: Alastair Cook (capt), Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, James Anderson, Gareth Batty