England win toss and field against India

BIRMINGHAM: England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to field against India in the third Test at Edgbaston here Wednesday as the hosts looked to take advantage of overcast, seam-friendly conditions.

England made one change from the side that won the second Test by 319 runs, with Ravi Bopara recalled in place of batsman Jonathan Trott, who suffered a shoulder injury while fielding at Trent Bridge.

It was Essex all-rounder Bopara's first Test in two years.

Fast bowler Steven Finn, called up as cover for the injured Chris Tremlett, who'd already withdrawn, was omitted from the remaining 12-man squad.

India, beset by injuries, made three changes opening batsman Virender Sehwag, who hasn't played a first-class innings since January and missed the first two Tests of this series following shoulder surgery, returned in place of the dropped Abhinav Mukund.

Fellow opener Gautam Gambhir, who missed the second Test because of an elbow injury, took the place of Yuvraj Singh, ruled out of the series after suffereing a broken finger at Trent Bridge.

And leg-spinner Amit Mishra came in for Harbhajan Singh after the off-spinner suffered a series-ending stomach muscle injury in the second Test.

India great Sachin Tendulkar went into this match still searching for the century that would see him become the first batsman to score an unprecedented 100 international hundreds.

If England win this match they will take both an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the series and replace India at the top of the ICC's Test Championship table.

This fixture went ahead as scheduled despite several nights of rioting and looting in Birmingham which on Tuesday saw three Asian men killed after being hit by a car.

Teams
England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior (wkt), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson

India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar,
Venkatsai Laxman, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wkt), Amit Mishra, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth

Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS) and Steve Davis (AUS)
TV umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)
(AFP)