Image source, Reuters

First run!

My fellow Charlton fan (or sufferer) Zak Crawley clips one off his legs for a single as Jasprit Bumrah strays slightly down the leg side.

Ben Duckett then swishes at a wide one outside off stump from the final ball of the over, drawing the first oooohs from the India slip cordon after Crawley's more controlled start.

Left alone outside off stump.

How many of those will we see today?

Here we go.

Jasprit Bumrah, always a joy to watch, has ball in hand.

Zak Crawley to face the first ball. We know how much he likes to set the tone with that...

India captain Rohit Sharma on TNT Sports: "We would have batted as well.

"It looks a little dry but we've played in these conditions a fair bit now and understand what we need to do. We've got the skills and the guys who can do the job for us and we believe in that so hopefully we can turn out and turn out well.

"It is a good series. The guys are excited about playing five Tests, we've never done it before. We know what to expect from the conditions and how to prepare as a group. It is now just about executing your skills, backing yourself and delivering.

"It was tough to leave Kuldeep Yadav out. We thought a lot about it. Axar Patel gives us batting depth so that is probably the reason we went with him."

England captain Ben Stokes on TNT Sports: "It is difficult to tell [the conditions] but we wanted to bat first and get a big score on the board.

"We know the challenge that India presents. It's not easy for any team that comes here but we see that as an exciting challenge and something we want to take on.

"Tom Hartley makes his debut. The spinners have got a great leader of the attack in Jack Leach, and I have full faith in every player we have selected.

"Woody is our X-factor bowler so it'll be about using him at the right stages of the game when we need him."

Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport chief cricket writer in Hyderabad

Given the make-up of England's team, that was a huge toss. Mark Wood punched the air when the coin came down in England's favour, then strutted off like a boy towards the sweet shop.

It was so important, even the England chef was watching on the outfield, complete with apron. "Which one is the chef?" said one member of the travelling press pack, who I won't name and shame.

A Test debut for Lancashire's Tom Hartley.

Image source, Getty Images

India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Srikar Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Jack Leach.

Image source, Reuters

Ben Stokes gets it right, and on a dry pitch, there is very little surprise about what he chooses to do first.

There's going to be very little time to wait to see how England's batters are going to approach this series.

Duckett and Crawley, over to you.

England's Stokes-McCullum era has faced India before, in that one-off rearranged Test match in the summer of 2022, which they won - but a five-match series away from home is an entirely different prospect.

They did it in Pakistan, they almost managed it against Australia and now, here lies Bazball's latest (and arguably toughest) challenge.

And as if it wasn't already eagerly anticipated, the build-up has been quite something.

Harry Brook and Virat Kohli are both absent for personal reasons, Shoaib Bashir's visa delay has taken the headlines and yesterday, attention turned to the cricket for the first time as England announced their XI.

Click here for your reminder of that.

Good morning!

Coffee at the ready? It's time to say goodbye to your sleeping pattern for the next seven weeks...

177 days since that Stuart Broad finale at The Oval, England are playing Test cricket again. It's good to be back!