Teenager Haseeb Hammed is all set to make his Debue for England at Rajkot on Wednesday. Image Source: twitter[/caption]Internet Desk: What a moment it will be for the 19 year old Haseeb Hammed as he walks into the middle with his England test cap at Rajkot. The Indian origin Haseeb, who was born in Bolton is all set to make his test debut for England. The teenager will get rewarded for his brilliance stint with county side Lancashire scoring four centuries this season including two in the Roses match against Yorkshire.
England captain Alistair Cook confirmed Hasseb as his opening partner for the first test which gets underway tomorrow at Rajkot. Ben Duckett, who opened the batting with Cook in Bangladesh, will now bat at No. 4.
Heaping high praises on Haseeb, Alistair Cook said, "You often wonder a nineteen year-old coming on tour, if they'll be overawed and he hasn't been at all. He's looked really good at the nets, the way he has trained, gone about his business."
"He is incredibly unflappable. He is a very good player of spin. Looks like he picks length very well, uses the crease well forward and back. Stuart Broad bowled at him last summer and was almost straight on the phone to me saying how impressed he was with this guy," said Cook ahead of the first test at Rajkot.
"You wonder how he'd cope with it but he's superb. You wouldn't know he's 19 and I expect that same approach in his batting as well. He has scored runs at every single level he has played at. I remember how hard it was in my second year. I was nowhere near the player he was. It's really exciting."
Gary Ballance, who had an awful series in Bangladesh, will have to sit out with Josh Butler.
"It's not ideal to give a guy two games at the top and then changing him but you know he's a pretty unflappable character. He had three tough innings and then played a really good innings at the top of the order. But I suppose historically he's played all his cricket in the middle order except the last year or so. So he's comfortable batting anywhere. It's never ideal if you chop and change but he's a fine cricketer," Cook said about Duckett on the eve of the series start.
England are yet to finalise on their eleven for the game said Cook but the batting order looks very similar to the one that played in Bangladesh with Hameed for Ballance being the only change. Cook reckoned that the pitch could change character over 36 hours and decided to wait on making a decision about the bowling line-up.
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