England choose to line up against India, Woakes and Pope back

LONDON, September 2 (Reuters) – England captain Joe Root has won the draw and opted for the fourth test against India, with both sides making two substitutions for the game at the Oval on Thursday.

The hosts, who tied the five-test series 1-1 with an innings victory in Game 3 at Headingley, welcomed all-rounder Chris Woakes and mid-order bat Ollie Pope.

Sam Curran was left out, while wicket keeper Jos Buttler missed the game to witness the birth of his second child.

Jonny Bairstow will keep the wickets in Buttler’s absence.

“We’re going to try to use the air conditions, it looks like a nice morning for the bowling,” Root said in the toss.

India was forced to make two changes with injured sailors Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma replaced by Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s wait to play his first game of the series continues as India continued with Ravindra Jadeja.

“England had four lefties and we think it’s a good game for Jadeja,” said India captain Virat Kohli.

“It suits our team perfectly, as well as the balance it gives us with the bat.”

Teams:

England: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (captain), Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow (wicket), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson

India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rishabh Pant (wicket), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; edited by Christian Radnedge

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