NEWSEngland will have a new wicketkeeper in Ben Foakes and Stuart Broad will replace James Anderson as part of workload management for the second Test against India starting on Saturday. Also in the mix is Moeen Ali, a known nemesis of India, in place of last match's first innings top wicket-taker Dom Bess.
Jofra Archer's elbow injury might make way for bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes, who is a handy batsman apart from being a fine pacer in his own right.
"Jofra is a slight setback but hopefully he is fit and ready for the third Test," skipper and the team's No 1 batsman Joe Root said on the eve of the game.
A look at the newly-laid dark coloured Chepauk track is an indication that unlike the strip used during the first Test, this one will offer turn earlier than expected.
"We are going to make four changes. Jimmy, Jofra (injured), Jos, Dom Bess are out with Foakes, Ali, Stone, Broad and Woakes coming into the XII," Root said in a virtual media conference on the eve of the second Test.
England lead the four-match series 1-0 after defeating India by a massive 227 runs in the first Test.
The touring party received a setback after their strike parcer Jofra Archer was ruled out of the second Test with an elbow injury.
"Of course it is a slight setback but the good news is that it looks like he should be able to get himself fit and ready for the game.
"So as long as he uses the next couple of weeks wisely and looks after he should be fully fit ready to go," Root said about Archer's unavailability.
Bess, who picked the prized scalp of Virat Kohli en route to a five-wicket match haul, misses out after a slump in form in the second innings with Ali set to play his first Test since August 2019.
"Yeah, it wasn't an easy decision that Dom's contributed well and and had a real impact. With him missing out, the message for him moving forward is to keep working at that consistency of his game, deliver that skill time and time again," Root said about the offspinner's exclusion.
"The contributions he made was fantastic. He is very young. He's very much at the start of this, it doesn't mean that you get a big push back down the pecking order.
"It gives him an opportunity to take a step out of Test cricket, the harshest environment, especially these conditions especially against a team that plays spin so well. Take a stock and work on his game."
England squad: Joe Root (captain), Dominic Sibley, Rory Burns, Ollie Pope, Dan Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Ben Foakes (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Olly Stone.
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