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Stokes opts to bat for a change; Bumrah and Archer come in

England have left out Josh Tongue from the XI for the second Test, while India have sent Prasidh Krishna to the bench

Matt Roller
Matt Roller
10-Jul-2025 • 6 hrs ago
Toss England chose to bat vs India
Ben Stokes won his third toss in a row but defied his recent preference by opting to bat first at Lord's, as England and India welcomed back Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah respectively.
Stokes chose to bowl first in both the first two Tests but said that overhead conditions - with Lord's bathed in sunshine and temperatures set to pass 30-degrees Celsius this week - dictated his decision to bat. It's only the third time that Stokes has opted to bat first in home Tests, with England losing on both the previous occasions.
Shubman Gill, India's captain, said he was "a bit confused" as to what he would have done if he had won the toss. "I think I would have bowled first," he said. "I came in yesterday, and the wicket had a bit of green in it. If there's anything in the wicket, it's on the first day and in the first session."
Both teams made a single change from the second Test at Edgbaston, with Archer replacing Josh Tongue and Bumrah returning in place of Prasidh Krishna.
"The mood is good," Stokes said. "It's been a very well-fought two matches… We're pushing towards coming away from Lord's at 2-1. The bodies are all good. Everyone likes playing at Lord's. It's one of those weeks where you've got to enjoy it as much as you can."
Gill has scored 147, 8, 269 and 161 in the series so far. He has played at Lord's once before, for Glamorgan against Middlesex, but this is his first Test at the venue. "I'm feeling great," he told Ravi Shastri at the toss. "The hard work, when it pays off, is quite satisfying."
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Shoaib Bashir
India: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Karun Nair, 4 Shubman Gill (capt), 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Akash Deep, 11 Mohammed Siraj

Matt Roller is senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98