England captain Joe Root today said comeback-man Ben Stokes is not fully fit to carry out his complete bowling responsibilities, which has prompted the side to bring in Moeen Ali for the fourth Test against India starting here tomorrow.
"There's two changes to the team from last week. Sam Curran comes in for Chris Woakes - he's not fit to play this time around - and with Ben not being 100 per cent in terms of the amount he can bowl and the balance of the side, Moeen comes in for Ollie Pope," Root said in the pre-match press conference.
Stokes suffered a knee injury during the third Test, his first since being acquitted of affray charges after a brawl outside a pub.
"The likes of Moeen going back to county cricket making a double hundred and take six-for, Sam went back and played for Surrey and now has another opportunity. At all times, you're not far away from playing," he added.
England lead the five-match series 2-1 but have been pulled back by the loss in the third Test.
Root expressed confidence that his side will bounce back from the defeat suffered in Nottingham.
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"We under-performed last week, that's the bottom line. One of our big strengths as a squad is our strength of character and, at home in particular, we're very good at bouncing back from difficult weeks," he said.
"We've done it time and time again before. And I don't expect anything less form the group this time as well," he added.
Root also confirmed that Jonny Bairstow will play as a specialist batsman and bat at number four, with Jos Buttler keeping wickets probably till the end of this series.
"With a slight fracture it's the safest thing to do is for Jonny to play just as a batter. He is fit to bat and will bat at four this week. He's fully aware that it's a lot to ask him to keep with a broken finger. Well, a slight crack in it.
"It was a medical call. He didn't seem fit to be able to keep in a Test for five days. And that was the call that was made. He will be disappointed but ultimately we've got to do the best thing for this team to win this game."