Pace bowler Munaf Patel and 17-year-old leg spinner Piyush Chawla will make their Test debut for India in the second Test against England at the PCA stadium in Mohali on Thursday.
England, who won the toss and elected to bat, have left out left-arm spinner Ian Blackwell and brought in seamer Liam Plunkett.
Mohammed Kaif, who made a valuable 91 against England in the first Test in Nagpur, was replaced by the in-form Yuvraj Singh. Yuvraj missed the first Test because of a hamstring injury he sustained in the one-day series in Pakistan.
The experienced V V S Laxman and S Sreesanth have also been dropped to make place for Chawla and Munaf.
Sreesanth was suffering with viral fever a couple of days ago and failed to recovered sufficiently.
The start of the match was delayed by 45 minutes due to rain.
The first Test in Nagpur was drawn.
Teams:
India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, M S Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla.
England: Andrew Flintoff (captain), Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Geraint Jones, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar and Liam Plunkett
Sessions:
Morning: 1045-1200 IST
Post-lunch: 12:40-3:15
Post Tea: 3:30-5:45
More from rediff