Root urges England to be ‘ruthless’

England captain Joe Root has urged his team to produce a "ruthless" display in the fourth Test against India at the Oval starting Thursday.England's innings and 76-run victory at Headingley last week has left the five-match series all square at 1-1.

"Now is when the hard work starts," said England captain Root. "We've got to look to go even further, dig deeper and really start to go through the gears," added Root, who replaced New Zealand counterpart Kane Williamson as the top-ranked Test batsman on Wednesday, riding his red-hot form in the ongoing five-Test series against India.

"A world-class side like India, led by Virat Kohli, I expect nothing less than a response. It would be naive to think otherwise. We've just got ourselves back to level and, if we find ourselves ahead of the game at any stage, we must get ruthless again."

A see-saw series -- a rain-affected draw in Nottingham was followed by India's 151 run-win at Lord's before they collapsed to 78 all out at Leeds -- has left Kohli adamant his side will not be "demoralised" by last week's loss. "If what happens in one game guarantees you the same thing in the next game, we should have smashed England again," the India captain added.

India were dismissed for just 36 while losing the first Test against Australia in Adelaide in December only for an injury-hit squad to claim a memorable 2-1 series win.

"We like to be in this situation where people start coming at us with doubts and really start questioning the ability of our team," said Kohli. "That is the situation we love best."

With wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler absent to attend the birth of his second child and concerns about the impact a gruelling schedule of three Tests in three weeks will have on their fast bowlers, England could still make as many as three changes to a winning side.

Jonny Bairstow will replace Buttler behind the stumps, with either Dan Lawrence or Ollie Pope filling the vacancy in the middle order.

The more awkward issue for England is whether they should rest either or both James Anderson and Ollie Robinson after the new-ball duo starred at Headingley.

Faced with an Oval pitch known to take turn, India must decide if they can continue to omit off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.