India captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat in the third Test against England at Headingley on Wednesday.
The tourists, who won the second Test at Lord's by 151 runs to go 1-0 up in the five-match series, fielded an unchanged squad.
"The pitch doesn't have much grass on it, looks nice and firm, I think runs on the board will be crucial to set up the test match," Kohli said after winning the toss.
England have made two changes to their squad as they seek to level the series.
Dawid Malan replaces out-of-form Dom Sibley, while Craig Overton was picked ahead of the uncapped Saqib Mahmood to replace injured seamer Mark Wood.
"I'm not too disappointed to be bowling," England captain Joe Root said.
"There's going to be a bit of cloud cover, it looks a bit tacky."
The Lord's contest proved an ill-tempered one with several players from both sides exchanging words, while the tailenders were subjected to bouncer barrages.
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