AHMEDABAD: England captain Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat against India at Ahmedabad on Thursday in the fourth and final Test of a spin-dominated series.

Virat Kohli's India, 2-1 up after last week's two-day win at the same venue, need only avoid defeat to secure their place in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand.

The visitors dropped fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad in favour of off-spinner Dom Bess and batsman Dan Lawrence for the Test at Narendra Modi Stadium, the world's biggest cricket venue.

"We need to make use of the first innings, because it'll spin again very soon so we need to get runs on the board soon," Root said.

"Over the last couple of years we have progressed as a side, and it'd be a great chance to finish a great winter if we win this Test match."

India included Mohammed Siraj in their team after fellow pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah left the squad for "personal reasons".

"Quite a no-brainer, we would have batted first as well," said Kohli.

"We have to be at our best and England have put us under pressure in the past and in this series as well."

Teams

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj

England: Joe Root (capt), Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Dominic Bess, Jack Leach, James Anderson

Umpires: Nitin Menon (IND), Virender Sharma (IND)

TV umpire: Anil Chaudhary (IND)

Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)