London, July 21: India’s much anticipated campaign in England began on a happy note with captain MS Dhoni winning the toss and opting to bowl first. This is the landmark 2000th Test match to be played, the 100th to take place between India and England.

Captain speak:

MS Dhoni (India):

On winning the toss: “We were looking to bowl first; [these are] good conditions, overcast. It may help the seamers initially, so [we’ll] look to take the initiative.”

On the team composition: “Everyone is fit which means we have the best eleven. The guys missing are [S Sreeanth] Sree, Munaf [Patel], Amit Mishra and Wriddhiman Saha. Yuvraj [Singh] is not playing either as he is the 12th man. Suresh Raina gets a chance.”

On leaving out Yuvraj Singh: “It was a difficult decision because Yuvi has been the pick of the batsmen in the last few years and has been the Man-of-the-Series in the World Cup and has done really well. Both of them [he and Raina] are very good fielders and Yuvi gives us that extra bit when it comes to left-arm spin bowling; but when needed, Raina can also bowl. So yes, it was a difficult decision.”

Onwhat Sachin Tendulkar’s hundredth 100 will mean to the country: “It will mean a lot. It’s important not to pressurise him to get a hundredth 100. He will get it at some point of time so let’s wait for it and we will make it a big occasion once he gets there.”

On coach Duncan Fletcher: “It is his hundredth Test match as coach so it is a really big achievement for him. He watches the game very closely and [has a hold on] the basic aspects of the game so it is good to have him in the side.”

Andrew Strauss (England):

On losing the toss: “Of course, [knowing] the conditions here, we would have had a bowl as well. But we know the Lords’ wicket is usually a good one. We may have to work hard for the first hour or so. We have our work cut out. We have to bat well. There’s no reason why we can’t go and have a big score.”

On Staurt Broad and Tim Bresnan: “We are going with Broad. It will give a slightly better balance to our side. It’s a tough call obviously because Tim Bresnan has done exceptionally well for us over the last year and a half or so. We are very comfortable with the team we have got.”

On India: “You don’t have to look at the records to know that they are a high quality team. The important thing is to adapt to these conditions here well.”

Playing XIs:

England: AN Cook, AJ Strauss(c), IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, IR Bell, EJG Morgan, MJ Prior(wk), GP Swann, SCJ Broad, JM Anderson, CT Tremlett

India: G Gambhir, A Mukund, SR Tendulkar, R Dravid, VVS Laxman, SK Raina, MS Dhoni(c,wk), Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, I Sharma, P Kumar