Why are the England players wearing black armbands?

The India-England Test series kicked-off on Friday with the first of the four Tests in Chennai.

Members of the England team are wearing black armbands. They are doing so as a mark of respect to inspirational war veteran and fund-raising hero Captain Sir Tom Moore.

Sir Tom Moore died earlier this week after being admitted to hospital with coronavirus.

Many current and former England cricketers paid their respects to Sir Tom Moore following his demise. England skipper Joe Root, in a video shared by England Cricket Board (ECB), said:

“Really sad news, had the pleasure of getting a chance to speak to him at the start of the last year. I am sure his family would be extremely proud of the legacy he has left behind. Someone gave the nation a chance to smile about in these dark times.”

A message from our Test captain Joe Root following the sad passing of Captain Sir Tom Moore. pic.twitter.com/nDcMR4lCF5

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 3, 2021

1st India v England Test: England win toss and bat

England captain Joe Root called correctly at the toss and chose to bat first against India in Chennai.

While skipper Virat Kohli and Ishant Sharma made an expected comeback to the Indian team, Shahbaz Nadeem was surprisingly chosen ahead of Kuldeep Yadav.

On expected lines, India went in with three spinners, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar, both part of the playing XI. Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant have been chosen as the two pacers.

England have made four changes to the XI that turned up for the second Test against Sri Lanka last month. Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, and opener Rory Burns are back while Ollie Pope replaces the injured Zak Crawley.

The ongoing encounter is England captain Joe Root’s 100th Test match. Incidentally, he made his debut in India, and also played his 50th Test in the same country.

Toss News:England have elected to bat against #TeamIndia in the first Paytm Test at Chepauk. #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/9NvyYM5auv

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 5, 2021

Here are the playing XIs for the first India v England Test match in Chennai:

India playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shahbaz Nadeem, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

England playing XI: Dominic Sibley, Rory Burns, Daniel Lawrence, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, Jack Leach, James Anderson