Mohammed Shami, who was excellent in Vizag, will get things underway, while Parthiv Patel takes his place behind the stumps. He made his Test debut in England back in 2002 as a wiry 17-year-old. Hameed would have been five at the time. A sobering thought. Cook gets England up and running with a little clip to short leg.

Michael Vaughan
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

"There are cracks. There is a real fullish grey colour. The grass on the surface is burned. I don't think it's going to spin square just yet, but it will probably spin more than on the first day of the previous two Test matches.

"There's no doubt that this pitch will deteriorate on days three, four and five. It's so important to bat long in the first innings. The pressure is now on England."

That's the anthems done and dusted. Hameed and Cook make their way to the crease, Hameed busy shadow batting, as India have a last-minute huddle.

Vic Marks
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

So far, so good for England, but they've never won here. You've got to get the runs on the board.

Michael Vaughan
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

I would have gone with an extra seamer and left Gareth Batty out. But England's line-up looks a lot more balanced - they've got three left-handers replaced by three right-handers, so you'd think it's a harder batting line-up for India to dislodge.

England: Alastair Cook (capt), Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Gareth Batty, James Anderson.

India: Murali Vijay, Parthiv Patel (wk), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav.

Umpires: Marais Erasmus & Chris Gaffaney.

TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena; Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle.

Jonathan Agnew
BBC Test Match Special

It's not win the toss, win the match. But it does you give you an advantage to have first use of these dry, cracked pitches.

Josh Illman: Good result needed for @englandcricket, external set the stalls out early with a good opening partnership!

Jos Buttler has played just one first-class game in 13 months, but he'll be appearing at number seven for England today in Mohali.

"Unfortunately Ben hasn't scored the runs he would have liked so it gives Jos an opportunity," captain Alastair Cook said.

"Playing as a specialist batter at seven is quite unusual but Jonny has been in outstanding form and it gives him a chance to bat a bit more and takes the pressure off Jos.

"What we do know is that Jos is an incredibly good cricketer."

Image source, Getty Images

India captain Virat Kohli: "It's a pretty dry wicket. I think the toss doesn't hold that much relevance. We might get a few wickets early on. 

"The boys are eager for this game. We want to make strong contributions at important times in the game."

England captain Alastair Cook: "It looks a good wicket. There's not much moisture in the pitch, so it should be an advantage to bat first, but that doesn't count for anything it's very important.

"We played well in the first game and India played well in the second, so hopefully we can go back to what we did in that first game, get some runs on the board and put India under some pressure."

Good news for England - our commentators Michael Vaughan and Simon Mann had a sneaky peek at the Test pitch yesterday. They reckoned then it was a good toss to win. Bat first and bat long.

Virat Kohli has never fielded the same XI in successive games as captain, and that looks set to continue today.

Parthiv Patel will make his return to Test cricket after an eight-year absence, while Karun Nair will also make his Test debut after receiving his cap from Sunil Gavaskar this morning.

Cook confirms a couple of changes - Jos Buttler will bat at seven, replacing Ben Duckett, while Chris Woakes returns in place of Stuart Broad. Gareth Batty completes the XI, coming in for Surrey team-mate Zafar Ansari.

England have won the toss! And Cook, looking snazzy in his England blazer, decides he's going to have a bat first.

Ey up, welcome to live text commentary of the third Test between India and England. 

It's early, isn't it? Grab a coffee, stick TMS on and keep an eye on us while you get back under the duvet and kick off your Saturday morning with some cricket.