Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has urged spectators to forget about "team selection and other nonsense" and appreciate the game in its purest form after premier India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was controversially excluded for the fourth consecutive Test against England.

As India continued to persist with the four seamers and a specialist spinner strategy for the fourth Test against England, skipper Virat Kohli had been subjected to sharp criticism by fans for backing Ravindra Jadeja and not selecting Ashwin in the playing XI. However, Kohli's decision to keep Ashwin on the bench stood vindicated as India registered a memorable 157-run win in the fourth Test at The Oval on Monday, to go 2-1 up in the five-match series.