India captain Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to bat in a one-off test against Afghanistan on Saturday at the New PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh.
India head into the match after a difficult couple of years in test cricket, which have included defeats by New Zealand, South Africa and Australia and seen them slip to sixth place in the World Test Championship standings.
Afghanistan, meanwhile, are seeking their fifth test win in 13 matches.
Bowling all-rounder Manav Suthar will be making his test debut for India. The 23-year-old, who plays for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy, has played 29 first-class matches, taking 129 wickets and scoring 945 runs, including a high score of 120.
TEAMS
India: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Afghanistan: Sediqullah Atal, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Afsar Zazai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Nangeyalia Kharote, Ziaur Rahman, Mohammad Saleem
(Reuters)
