England elect to field first, RP Singh comes in for Munaf

New Delhi, Mar 28 (UNI) England captain Andrew Flintoff won the toss and elected to field first in the first one-dayer against India at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium here today.

India will be without Sachin Tendulkar, who is in London for a shoulder surgery, in the seven-match series. Pacer Munaf Patel is also out of the match with a bruised heel. RP Singh will take his place in the side.

However, opener Virender Sehwag will play after having cleared the fitness test yesterday.

Meanwhile, the tourists, fresh from an impressive come from behind Test series levelling performance, have included James Anderson in the squad, leaving out Matthew Hoggard.

The teams: India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Harbhajan Singh, S Sreesanth England: Matt Prior, Andrew Strauss, Owais Shah, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff (captain), Paul Collingwood, Geraint Jones (wicketkeeper), Ian Blackwell, Liam Plunkett, Kabir Ali, James Anderson UNI AY PM RAI0913