England win toss and bat against India

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)