England bat against India in third Test as Bumrah returns
His decision meant outstanding India paceman Jasprit Bumrah was thrust straight into the action after sitting out the second Test.
India had deiberately rested Bumrah, the world's top-ranked Test bowler, from the side that thrashed England by 336 runs in the second Test at Edgbaston last week to level this five-match series at 1-1.
Prasidh Krishna made way for Bumrah after Akash Deep -- Bumrah's replacement in the second Test -- took 10 wickets in Birmingham as India recorded their biggest Test win away from home, in terms of runs.
Stokes had opted to field in the first two Tests, with England winning the opener at Headingley by five wickets.
England had already named their side, making just the one change as they recalling fast bowler Jofra Archer after more than four years of injury-induced Test exile in place of Josh Tongue.
India captain Shubman Gill will look to continue his blistering start to the series having already scored a mammoth 585 runs at an average of 146.25, including 269 and 161 at Edgbaston, in his first four innings as a Test skipper.
"I was a bit confused this morning but I would've bowled first," said Gill at the toss. "If there is anything in the wicket, it's in the first day."
The 25-year-old added: "The bowlers are feeling pretty confident. I'm feeling great, as a batsman you feel like you'll always be in the middle."
Meanwhile, Stokes said: "The mood's good. It's been a very well fought two Test matches, set up the series nice but we're pushing to leave Lord's leading 2-1. Bodies are all good, a quick turnaround, everyone's fresh."
Teams:
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wkt), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (capt), Rishabh Pant (wkt), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj
Umpires: Paul Reiffel (AUS), Sharfuddoula (BAN)
TV Umpire: Ahsan Raza (PAK)
Match Referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)