IND v ENG: Wood replaces Bashir as England name playing XI for Rajkot Test

Rajkot, Feb14 (IANS) England have named their playing XI to take on India in the third Test match, starting here on Thursday, with experienced pacer Mark Wood replacing the young spinner Shoaib Bashir.

The third match of the five-game series will mark the 100th Test appearance for English captain Ben Stokes, who will become 16th man to reach a century of Tests for England.

Woods replacing Bashir is the only change in the line-up from the second Test that England lost by 106 runs. It means that England will be playing two seamers for the first time in the series, after fielding a spin-heavy attack in the first two Tests.

With England winning the opening Test in Hyderabad by 28 runs and India bouncing back with a 106-run win at Visakhapatnam, the five-match series is currently levelled at 1-1.

England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson