A total of five Indians are making their Test debuts in this match, their first in almost seven years
Toss England Women opt to bat against India Women
Dunkley, 22, made the XI on the back of an impressive run for the South East Stars at the recent domestic 50-over competition for the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy. Emily Arlott, another breakthrough performer from that tournament, didn’t make the cut as Heather Knight, playing her 100th match as England captain, opted for the pace of Kate Cross instead.
Verma, 17, was previously capped only in T20Is, whereas Rana, 27, returned to an Indian XI after 2016. She was picked for all three formats of the England tour following her performance in the domestic 50-over tournament earlier this year, where she topped the wicket-takers’ chart for the Mithali Raj-led Railways with 18 strikes at an average of 12.66, while scoring 160 runs at a strike rate of 123.07 from the middle order.
India picked three quicks in their line-up, with veteran Jhulan Goswami leading the attack and Shikha Pandey, dropped for the eight-match limited-overs assignment against South Africa at home in March, and Pooja Vastrakar in support roles. India opted for Rana, Sharma and part-timer Harmanpreet Kaur, the vice-captain, to shoulder the spin-bowling responsibilities. Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht and wristspinner Poonam Yadav sat out.
For England, Georgia Elwiss pipped Fran Wilson to a spot in the XI while Lauren Winfield-Hill slotted in as Tammy Beaumont’s opening partner.
England: 1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Lauren Winfield-Hill, 3 Heather Knight (capt), 4 Nat Sciver, 5 Amy Jones (wk), 6 Sophia Dunkley, 7 Georgia Elwiss, 8 Katherine Brunt, 9 Anya Shrubsole, 10 Sophie Ecclestone, 11 Kate Cross
India: 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Punam Raut, 4 Mithali Raj (capt), 5 Harmanpreet Kaur, 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Sneh Rana, 8 Taniya Bhatia (wk), 9 Jhulan Goswami, 10 Pooja Vastrakar, 11 Shikha Pandey
Annesha Ghosh is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @ghosh_annesha
