Kohli names first unchanged XI

England captain Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat in the fourth Test against India at Southampton's Rose Bowl, while rival captain Virat Kohli named an unchanged XI for the first time in his captaincy.

Off-spinning allrounder Moeen Ali and left-arm swing bowler Sam Curran replaced top-order batsman Ollie Pope and pace-bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes, out with a thigh problem.

"To win a five-match series you have to rely on the whole squad," England leader Root said at the coin toss. "The message after Trent Bridge is to stay calm."

India won the Trent Bridge Test by 203 runs to make the series scoreline 2-1 following England victories at Edgbaston and Lord's. 

Kohli had a wry smile at the coin toss when noting he would lead out an unchaged XI "for the first time in a long time". 

In fact, it had pre-dated Kohli's captaincy that India had fielded an unchanged XI. It had been 46 Tests since India last went into a Test match unchanged. 

"We would have batted first as well," Kohli said. "The pitch has a good grass covering, nice and even, probably the best pitch of the series."

Meanwhile, Jos Buttler kept wicket instead of Jonny Bairstow after deputising when the Yorkshireman broke a finger behind the stumps.

Bairstow, however, remained in the side as a specialist number four in a reshaped top-order where several batsmen were in unfamiliar positions.

India, however, were unchanged for the first time in Kohli's captaincy after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was passed fit following a groin problem.

India are bidding to become just the second team in history to win a five-match Test series from 2-0 down.

An Australia side inspired by batting great Don Bradman remain the only team to have achieved that feat, against England in 1936/37.

Meanwhile England paceman James Anderson needs just six more wickets to equal retired Australia star Glenn McGrath's mark of 563 – the most taken by any fast bowler in Test history.

This will be the last Test match staged at Southampton's Rose Bowl, the headquarters of south coast county Hampshire, until at least 2025, with all of England's home Tests for the next six years allocated to the six 'traditional' venues of Lord's, The Oval, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, Old Trafford and Headingley.

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

India: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant(wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.