India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat against England on a sunny morning in the first Test at Nottingham's Trent Bridge ground on Wednesday.
England made one change from the side that lost the second Test against Sri Lanka by 100 runs at Headingley last month, a result that saw the Lankans win their first series on English soil, when they recalled Ben Stokes in place of fellow all-rounder Chris Jordan.
Stokes returned after missing the Sri Lanka series with a self-inflicted wrist injury suffered when he punched a dressing-room locker after making a golden duck in Bridgetown, Barbados, in March.
Meanwhile wicketkeeper Matt Prior was passed fit following a thigh injury which had seen England bring in Jos Buttler as cover.
India gave a Test debut to 30-year-old seam-bowling all-rounder Stuart Binny, the son of 1983 World Cup-winner Roger Binny who also starred in India's victorious tour of England in 1986 -- one of only three Indian Test series victories on English soil together with their 1971 and 2007 successes.
Stuart Binny, who only played the first of his four one-day internationals this year, was selected after impressing during the past three seasons with Karnataka after making a name for himself in the now defunct Indian Cricket League.
Binny's inclusion meant India fielded a five-man attack, with four seamers backed up by left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
England have not won any of their last eight Tests while it is more than three years since India won a Test away from home, a run now stretching to 14 matches and including 10 defeats.
This match was the first of a five-Test series. It was the first time India had played a five-Test series in England since they were thrashed 5-0 back in 1959.
India's last Test tour of England saw them beaten 4-0 in a four-match series in 2011.
England: Alastair Cook (capt), Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Matt Prior (wkt), Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, Liam Plunkett, James Anderson
India: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wkt), Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar,Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI) and Bruce Oxenford (AUS)
TV umpire: Ian Gould (ENG)
Match referee: David Boon (AUS)
Source: AFP
