England opt to bat; India play unchanged XI after 45 Tests

England won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the all-important fourth Test match at Rose Bowl Southampton.

England won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the all-important fourth Test match at Rose Bowl Southampton.

India have gone in with an unchanged playing XI after 45 Test matches - the first time in the tenure of Virat Kohli, which involved 38 Test matches. The last time India played with an unchanged XI was on the same ground four years ago under MS Dhoni.

"We have an unchanged XI. First time in a long time. Rightly so as well. Don't think we need to change looking at the conditions. We have all bases covered. Ashwin is ready to go as well. He was 70% in the last game. We've all gained so much experience, we've played four years of Test cricket from the last time. Guys are waiting for opportunities. Last time we couldn't capitalize on important moments. Key is working even harder than Nottingham," said Indian captain Virat Kohli.

England, on the other hand, have made two changes with Sam Curran and Moeen Ali making a comeback into the Test side in place of an injured Chris Woakes and young Ollie Pope.

Moeen Ali is playing his first Test match in five months. Ali was the most successful bowler in the only Test match India played at Southampton four years ago, returning with match figures of 8 for 129 that included a match-winning six-wicket haul in the second innings.

With England still leading the series 2-1, Joe Root expressed confidence in his team and assured that the loss in the previous match won't have any bearing on England's performance in this match.

"To win a five-match series you have to rely on the whole squad. Opportunity for Moeen to come back in and prove the form he's had the last couple of weeks. Obviously a fine player. Bairstow will be fine at four. Class player himself. Message after Trent Bridge is to stay calm," said Root.

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

England (Playing XI): Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root(c), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson