London, Sep 1 (IANS): Moeen Ali has been named as vice-captain of England ahead of the fourth Test against India. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) made the announcement through Twitter on Wednesday.

"Moeen Ali has been named as our vice-captain for the fourth LV= Insurance Test against India. Congrats, Mo! (Clapping hands sign)," read the ECB tweet.

Ali replaces Jos Buttler, who is unavailable for the fourth Test due to the birth of his second child. Regular vice-captain Ben Stokes has been unavailable as he has taken time off from the game while giving rest to his left index finger.

Moeen captained England in a T20I against Australia in 2020 and has led Worcestershire to the T20 Blast title in 2018. He recently skippered Birmingham Phoenix to the finals of the inaugural edition of The Hundred.

Moeen, who was not named in the squad for the first Test at Trent Bridge, returned to the team for the second Test at Lord's. He has scored 48 runs and taken four wickets in the ongoing Test series.

The 34-year-old has played 63 Tests for England, scoring 2,879 runs with five centuries. He also has 193 wickets to his credit with five five-wicket hauls with his off-spin.

For the fourth Test, England have got the services of pacers Mark Wood, who recovered from his shoulder injury, and Chris Woakes, who was out of action for the first three Tests due to a heel injury.

The fourth Test between England and India begins at The Oval on Thursday. The five-match Test series is tied at 1-1.