India vs England 2021: 4th Test match players list & umpires

The series is back to where it all started. India and England are deadlocked at 1-1 as they go into the penultimate Test at the Kennington Oval in London starting Thursday (September 2).

After winning the toss in the last game after 8 successive losses in all formats, India captain Virat Kohli once again got his call wrong as the visitors were put in to bat in overcast conditions, but on a pitch which is touted to help batters more than the strip at Headingley.

The raging debate on Ravichandran Ashwin’s exclusion from the playing XI continued as the veteran off-spinner was left out for the fourth game running. The pace battery was overhauled, though.

Kohli finally admitted senior seamer Ishant Sharma is suffering from a niggle and was thus replaced by Umesh Yadav. In a slight bolster to the batting, seam-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur came in for Mohammad Shami. There was no change in the middle-order.

England, on the other hand, have made two changes to the line-up which thrashed India by an innings and 76 runs last Saturday.

Jos Buttler is on paternity leave, thus paving the way for Ollie Pope to play his first game since the Edgbaston Test against New Zealand in June. Jonny Bairstow will don the wicketkeeping gloves over the next five days.

Fast-bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes recovered from his heel injury and was deployed on his first assignment of the summer. He came in place of Sam Curran. Newly-appointed vice-captain Moeen Ali is the lone spinner for the hosts.

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India vs England – Test playing 11

India playing 11: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah

India squad: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel, Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Hanuma Vihari, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna

England playing 11: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ollie Pope, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton, James Anderson

England squad: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Saqib Mahmood, James Anderson, Craig Overton, Daniel Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Sam Billings

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India vs England – 4th Test umpires

On-field umpires: Alex Wharf, Richard Illingworth

3rd umpire: Michael Gough

Match referee: Chris Broad