England won a crucial toss at the WACA and opted to field first against India in a knockout encounter of the tri-series. The overcast conditions in Perth and grass on the wicket is expected to assist the seamers and England is hoping to utilise the conditions to their advantage.
“The pitch looks a bit soft,” Eoin Morgan said at toss. “We took a lot of confidence from our win against India in the league game. Potentially this might be our best side going forward but we will have to adapt and make changes as and when. Couple of days training helped in keeping us sharp.”
The English skipper Morgan opted to go with the unchanged squad for the game, while India made one change. Pacer Mohit Sharma was drafted into the playing XI in place of Ishant Sharma, who is deemed unfit by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
“We would have bowled first too and it looks a bit soft, dry wicket will be good,” Dhoni said. “No signs of fatigue as such, but it is demanding after a four-Test series. Rohit is not fit and we don’t want to risk him. Ishant is not fit so Mohit comes in his place.”
Playing XI: India: Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c), Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma.
England: Ian Bell, Moeen Ali, James Taylor, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Steven Finn.
