London, Aug 10 : England skipper Joe Root won the toss and opted to field against India on the second day of the rain-shortened second cricket Test at the Lord's here on Friday.

India have made two changes in their playing XI by bringing in Cheteshwar Pujara and chinaman Kuldeep Yadav in place of opener Shikhar Dhawan and pacer Umesh Yadav, respectively.

The hosts also made a couple of changes by handing Test debut to young batsman Ollie Pope in place of an off-colour Dawid Malan, and brought in Chris Woakes after being forced to drop all-rounder Ben Stokes due to his ongoing court case.

India: Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik(WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma.

England: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (Captain), Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Panaji (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying "someone has to be held accountable" for the tragedy in which 25 people were killed.In a stern observation, Goa bench of the High Court of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan said the local panchayat had "failed to take suo motu cognisance" of the club and had taken "no action despite complaints."

The division bench directed the Goa government to file a detailed reply on the permissions granted to the nightclub.

The High Court, while fixing January 8 as the next date of hearing, pointed out that commercial operations were continuing in the structure despite it having been served a demolition order.

The original petition was filed after the December 6 tragedy by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, the owners of the land on which the nightclub was operating.

ALSO READ: Veteran Congress leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa laid to rest with full state honours

Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing the petitioner, was made amicus curiae in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.

In their petition, Amonkar and Divkar highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order".

They contended that these violations posed "immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa."

Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.

The Goa police arrested five managers and staff members of the club, while co-owners Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra have been detained in Thailand after they fled the country.