India v/s England: It is going to be hard work for us, says Liam Dawson

There are quite a few similarities between left-arm spinner Liam Dawson’s England selection for the current Test series and for the ICC World T20 in India earlier this year. He was the third spinner then after Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid. He was a like-to-like replacement for Zafar Ansari, who had to withdraw before the tournament itself because of injury.

Here also, the circumstances of his call-up and the role were the same. He is the team’s third spinner behind Ali and Rashid, was pulled out of the Rangpur Riders squad in Bangladesh Premier League and flown in as a replacement for Ansari for the last two Tests after the latter was forced to return home with a back injury after the third Test.

Having warmed the bench in Mumbai last week, the 26-year-old from Hampshire was presented his Test cap here by former England off-spinner Vic Marks on Friday. Dawson, on Saturday, joined the list of young England Test debutants to shine with the bat straightaway.

After Haseeb Hameed’s 82 in the second innings in Rajkot and Keaton Jennings century in Mumbai last week, Dawson scored the highest for an Englishman batting at No. 8 or lower in his maiden Test match – 66 not out – on Saturday here.

The initial deliveries tested him. The second delivery that he faced rattle him, ducking awkward to an Ishant Sharma bouncer and the ball hitting him on the helmet. “It is obviously nice to do well on debut. It was interesting first few balls in Test cricket for me but I was pleased to get through them,” Dawson said at the end of the day’s play. “It was a good bouncer, I tried to watch it as hard as I could but that's part of the game. Sometimes, you get it a little bit wrong,” said Dawson, who received medical attention.

After that, he was not troubled at all, batted with ease and playing some attractive shots, the glance off Umesh Yadav for four being memorable.

Ignored after having done decently for Hampshire in their domestic first-class season, the all-rounder did not think of Tests when playing in BPL. “So, to be here now and making my Test debut in India is obviously very special,” he said.

Considering Shane Warne as one of his heroes, more so as the Australian played for Hampshire, Dawson said he needed to score “more runs and take more wickets (for his county)” to be the first-choice spinner for England. “It's as simple as it can be. If I could do that then I can be selected in future squads.”

Were there any lessons taken from his India visit with the T20 side earlier this year, Dawson said: “That was Twenty20 cricket and obviously Test cricket is completely different, so it's hard to say what.”

Dawson, along with Ali and Rashid, will have a lot of work to do on Sunday if England are to restrict India, what with having 477 on the board in their first innings. “It's a pretty good wicket. There isn't huge amount of spin, hasn't been much pace in it for the seamers. So, tomorrow (Sunday) is going to be hard work for us but if we keep going all day and keep trying to take wickets then we can be on top.”