India Vs England, 4th Test: Hosts recall Moeen and Curran, Buttler takes gloves

Southampton, Aug 29: Moeen Ali and Sam Curran have replaced Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes, while Jos Buttler will take the gloves for England in the fourth Test against India.

In-form all-rounder Moeen will play his first Test since facing New Zealand in March, with 20-year-old batsman Pope dropped as England attempt to seal a series win at the Rose Bowl.

Curran comes back into the side in place of the injured Woakes (thigh) after the all-rounder was unfortunate to be left out for a third-Test defeat at Trent Bridge.

Buttler takes over behind the stumps from Jonny Bairstow, who suffered a broken finger in a loss in Nottingham last week which kept the five-match series alive, with England leading 2-1.

Bairstow is fit to take his place in the side as a specialist batsman and is to set come in at number four in a contest which begins on Thursday.

England captain Joe Root said: "Chris Woakes is not fit to play this week and Ben Stokes has a slight issue so for the balance of the side Moeen Ali comes in for Ollie Pope.

"Jos Buttler is going to keep. It's a lot to ask Jonny to do it with a broken finger, but he's fit to bat. We have to do the best thing for this team to win the game. There are no guarantees in international sport.

"Moeen Ali has done exactly what you'd want him to do, he's been scoring runs and taking wickets in county cricket and should be full of confidence.

"We've bounced back from difficult defeats before and that's the challenge for us to do it again here."

England team:

Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Suart Broad, James Anderson.