Keaton Jennings and Liam Dawson called into England Test squad for India series

England have called up uncapped pair Keaton Jennings and Liam Dawson for the final two Test matches against India this winter, the ECB have confirmed. The pair replace Haseeb Hameed and Zafar Ansari, both of whom are suffering from respective finger and back injuries.

The 19-year-old Hameed will return home to have surgery on a broken finger suffered while batting in the first innings of the third Test in Mohali. The Lancashire opener scored two half centuries in his three matches but will no further part in the tour.

Durham's Jennings scored 1,548 runs during the 2016 County Championship season, the highest of any player in Division One. He was selected ahead of Middlesex's Nick Gubbins and is expected to make his debut in the fourth Test in Mumbai as the 11th different opening partner for captain Alastair Cook in the last four years.

Hampshire all-rounder Dawson meanwhile is in contention to complete a golden 2016 which has represented his breakthrough in international cricket. Twenty20 and one-day debuts against Sri Lanka and Pakistan have now been followed by his maiden call-up at Test level as a replacement for Ansari.

The Surrey spinner picked up a back injury in the second Test against India in Visakhapatnam and will continue to receive treatment before returning home on 8 December. The 26-year-old Dawson averages 37.47 with the ball in first class cricket and will compete with Gareth Batty to be the third spinner in the England attack.

Victory by eight wickets saw India take an unassailable 2-0 series lead over England, with two matches remaining. The fourth Test in Mumbai starts on Thursday 8 December before the fifth Test in Chennai begins on 16 December.