England playing 11 for Rajkot Test announced, Mark Wood comes back in place of...

England, on Wednesday (February 14), announced the England Playing XI for the upcoming third Test against India. The crucial Test is scheduled to be played on Thursday (February 15) in Rajkot. The five-match Test series is currently locked at 1-1. The visitors won the first Test in Hyderabad by 28 runs to take the lead in the series.

In the second game, Team India bounced back and inflicted a 106-run defeat on the Ben Stokes-led side to draw level in the series. While England did have the chance to put India on the backfoot on several occasions in the second Test, they failed to capitalize on it. Set a target of 399 runs, the visitors were bowled out for 292 runs.

England playing eleven for the Rajkot Test:

England have made one change to the team that lost the second Test in Vishakhapatnam. They have dropped young spinner Shoaib Bashir who made his debut in the Test. The right-arm spinner, who missed the first Test of the series due to a visa issue, started his Test career on a brilliant note by giving The visitors the first breakthrough in the game.

He dismissed India skipper Rohit Sharma for just 14 runs in the first innings. He went on to finish the innings with figures of 3 for 138. In the second innings, he managed to pick up just a solitary wicket. The visitors have recalled fast-bowler Mark Wood to replace Bashir in the playing eleven. The pacer played in the first Test and made little contribution before being dropped for the second Test.

He bowled 17 overs in the first innings and 8 overs in the second innings and failed to pick up any wickets in the game. Meanwhile, the upcoming game is a special one for England captain Ben Stokes. The game will be his 100th Test and he would be desperate to celebrate the milestone by leading his team to another famous win. A win in the third Test will see The visitors go 2-1 up in the five-match series.

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