Rishabh Pant replaced Vijay Shankar in the India playing XI and he will be making his World Cup debut in the ICC World Cup 2019 encounter against England in Birmingham on Sunday.
Pant was included in the India squad after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of World Cup with a thumb injury. Dhawan suffered a hairline fracture during his match-winning 117 against Australia at The Oval on June 9.
England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bat against India.
“Never a problem.. Love chasing. But honestly we would have batted first today. We haven’t chased after the first game in the tournament, so it’s a good challenge for us. We haven’t really focused on the opposition in this tournament, that’s why we have been consistent. We do have one change. Vijay Shankar has a toe niggle, Rishabh Pant is in. He brings in a lot of fearlessness. There is a small boundary for him to play for. Once he gets to 20, then it’s a different ball game. To be honest I haven’t seen what’s been happening outside. But I do believe the Pakistani fans will be supporting us, which is a rare thing (smiles), Kohli said after the toss”
The hosts have replaced Moeen Ali with Liam Plunkett.
“We are going to bat first. Two games to go, looking to win both and go through. Tactical move to bring in Plunkett in place of Moeen. There could be a bit more pace and bounce. Looks like the wicket will not offer much of turn, so we feel Liam will be more effective today. Jason Roy has trained well and fit to play. We are rejigged and reset as a team,” Morgan said.
England: Eoin Morgan(C), Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.
India: Virat Kohli (C), Lokesh Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah.