India vs England: 'A good match-up for Jadeja’: Virat Kohli explains why Ashwin wasn’t picked for 4th Test

Here's India's playing XI for the fourth Test against England which begins on Thursday at The Oval, London.

India made a couple of changes to their playing XI for the fourth Test against England which got underway on Thursday at The Oval in London. During the toss, captain Virat Kohli confirmed that fast bowlers Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur came into the final XI, and replaced Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami.

India announce playing XI for fourth Test (HT Collage)

India lost the toss once again in the ongoing five-match series as Joe Root opted to bowl first in the fourth Test. Captain Kohli said that Ishant and Shami have niggles, and hence, the have been rested for the game. The visiting skipper also mentioned that they would have also bowled first but they are good to bat first and put some runs on the board.

“We would have bowled first as well but toss isn't something you can control. Need to be prepared for either. We're looking forward to putting runs on the board,” Kohli said at the toss.

“Two changes – Ishant and Shami have niggles – Umesh and Shardul are back. For us, it's about partnerships, we can't focus too much on individuals. England has four left-handers, so a good match-up for Jadeja, with our seamers bowling over the wicket. Also factors in his balance at No.7. The opening partnership has been amazing for us, it's about getting together as batsmen. A few days left on this tour, the series is poised beautifully, and no shortage of effort, for sure,” he added.

England, on the other hand, have also made a couple of changes to their playing XI that defeated India at Headingley. Jos Buttler and Sam Curran missed out and got replaced by Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes.

“Going to make use of the overhead conditions. Looks like a good morning for bowling, we need to still hit the right lines and lengths, like we did at Headingley. We've got two changes - Ollie Pope in for Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes comes in for Sam Curran. Chris (Woakes) knows his body well and we all know about his performances. (On being the top-ranked batter) It does feel nice but obviously has no standing on this game,” Root said after winning the toss at the Oval.

Here are the Playing XIs:

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

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