Two Uncaps to Join England Test Team on Fourt Test against India

Dawson confesses he was “very surprised” to be called-up to replace the injured Zafar Ansari in England’s Test squad in India.

Both players are due to arrive in Mumbai early next week ahead of the start of the fourth Test at the Wankhede Stadium on December 8, live on Sky Sports.

Root’s exemplary 78 in Mohali preceded the equally skilful defiance of Hameed (59 not out), who made no apparent compromise to a suspected broken left little finger which may well put the rest of his tour of India in jeopardy.

Dawson, 26, made ODI and T20 debuts for England last summer after impressing on last winter’s Lions programme in the UAE.

Keaton Jennings celebrated his England call-up with an unbeaten hundred as the Lions beat the UAE by eight wickets, in Dubai.

‘I admit my white-ball cricket is better than my red-ball game but I feel I’ve improved over the last couple of years, ‘ said Dawson.

Star England batsman Joe Root on Thursday said that he wants to see England captain Alastair Cook lead the team for “years to come” and that he is happy in his capacity as the vice-captain of the team.

South Africa-born Jennings was put in charge for his Lions debut and responded with an innings which contained 13 fours from 103 balls as the Lions went 1-0 up with two to play.

Even if England do lose the last two games in this series – and they have now lost four of their last six Tests – it seems most unlikely that Cook will be sacked.

The England Lions are also now on a tour to Dubai, and media reports suggest that a player from ECB’s second tier cricket side will be called up as Hameed’s replacement. India now lead the series 2-0.

Now he will fly to Mumbai to join up with England’s senior squad on Monday from Dubai, where he will be captaining the Lions in two 50-over games today [THURSDAY] and on Saturday. It looked like they would be giving India another strong fight this time too when they set the pace with a gritty draw in the opener at Rajkot.

England captain Alastair Cook said: “It’s devastating for him”.

India feel it is not necessary to call up more players who ultimately will not feature in their Test plans when those men could be playing first class cricket.

Whoever plays, the odds are stacked against England getting anything out of this series now but they still have much to play for, not least to try to confirm they are still going in the right Test direction after a mixed year.

“The India we played in 2012 was different, probably an ageing team compared to now”, Cook said, adding that his current side were still learning how to tackle unfamiliar subcontinent conditions with low, turning pitches.