After a bout of bad fortune early on tour, England finally experienced a stroke of luck when they won the toss and elected to bat in the first Test against India at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Nagpur on Wednesday.
Kerala pace bowler S Sreesanth was awarded his first Test cap and he will share the new ball with Irfan Pathan.
Mohammad Kaif made a comeback to the Test team.
England named three debutants in their playing eleven, including left-arm spinners Ian Blackwell and Monty Panesar, and left-hand batsman Alastair Cook.
The 23-year-old Panesar, who plays for Northamptonshire, is the first Sikh to play for England.
Blackwell has played 28 one-dayers, while the 21-year-old Cook was called back from his duties with the England 'A' team in the West Indies as cover up for a few injured players.
It is the first time that Andrew Flintoff is leading England in a Test. He was handed the responsibility after regular captain Michael Vaughan had to return home due to injury.
Marcus Trescothick had returned to England earlier due to personal reasons as did pace bowler Simon Jones after he twisted his left ankle during training.
India have played eight Tests at the VCA, winning two and losing two, while four matches ended in draws.
It will be a tough task for the two inexperienced England spinners against the strong Indian batting line-up. The main threat will be in the form of Sachin Tendulkar, who has scored 635 runs in five matches at 105.83, including a double century and two centuries, at the venue.
Teams:
India: Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, S Sreesanth
England: Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones, Ian Blackwell, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar.
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