England win toss and bat against India

LONDON: England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat against India in the fourth and final Test at The Oval here on Thursday.

England, already an unbeatable 3-0 up in the series, were unchanged from the side that won by an innings and 242 runs at Edgbaston last week -- a victory that saw them replace India at the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Championship table.

That meant attack spearhead James Anderson was passed fit following a recent minor thigh injury and Ravi Bopara retained his place, despite making
just seven at Edgbaston after coming in as a replacement for the still-injured Jonathan Trott (shoulder).

But India, beset by injuries, were forced to omit Praveen Kumar, one of their few success stories this series, after the medium-pacer suffered a thumb injury while batting in the third Test at Edgbaston.

Kumar was replaced by left-arm seamer RP Singh, himself a late call-up to the squad for the injured Zaheer Khan, who bowled fewer than 14 overs in the series before being ruled out with a hamstring problem.

This was the 25-year-old Singh's first Test in more than three years, since playing against South Africa at Ahmedabad in April 2008, and only the 14th of his career.

England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior (wkt), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson

India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar,
Venkatsai Laxman, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wkt), Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, RP Singh

Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS) and Rod Tucker (AUS)
TV umpire: Steve Davis (AUS)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)
(AFP)