The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli was pleasantly surprised when he won the toss in the ongoing 3rd Test of the 5-match series against England at Headingley on Wednesday. Kohli had no hesitation in deciding to bat first despite an overcast morning after winning the toss in Leeds. Notably, Virat Kohli had never managed to win the toss as Test captain before Wednesday in England. He had lost 8 tosses as Test captain on the trot in the UK before reversing the fortunes at Headingley.
It was Joe Root who spun the coin and the Indian skipper was looked surprised after calling it right. This is also the first time Kohli has won the toss in Tests since the Chennai Test in February against England.
Talking about the same during the toss, Virat Kohli said, “It’s a surprise I’ve won the toss. We’re batting first. Looks firm and without grass and runs on the board will set this up. We’re going in with the same XI.”
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Virat Kohli also revealed that they are going with an unchanged XI, putting an end to the speculation around the inclusion of World No. 2 off-spinner R Ashwin in the team as he warmed the bench in the first couple of Tests. During the pre-match press conference on the even of the game, Kohli said that India would not change a winning team unless there were injury concerns.
The Indian skipper also conceded that they were thinking about including Ashwin but wanted to retain the winning combination of 4 pacers and a spin-bowling all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja.
Talking about R Ashwin, Virat Kohli said, “We thought about getting Ashwin in, and the pressure of the extra seamer in these conditions is crucial. Jadeja will bowl a lot more overs because the conditions are suited to him. You can lay down markers and culture, but it’s upto the boys to take it up and win from pressure situations. It’s all about handling pressure at the highest level.”
Meanwhile, England made a couple of changes to their XI as they brought Dawid Malan and Craig Overton to replace Dom Sibley and Mark Wood respectively.
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India’s Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
England’s Playing XI: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Butler (wicketkeeper), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Craig Overton, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson.Live TV
