“He will come back again – there’s no doubt about it”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

England opening batsman Haseeb Hameed will miss the remainder of the ongoing tour of India as he will be returning home to undergo surgery after breaking the little finger on his left hand.

Hameed, who was handed his Test debut at the beginning of the series, was struck on the hand when he was dismissed in the first innings of the third Test in Mohali, which India won by eight wickets.

Hameed was supposed to have his hand x-rayed at the end of the third Test, but he underwent the scans on the third day and the results were sent back to the United Kingdom to be assessed.

England captain Alastair Cook has revealed that the 19-year-old will need a plate fitted in his hand in order to repair the damage that has been done.

“Unfortunately, he’s got to go home and have a plate put in his hand, it’s pretty bad,” Cook said during the post-match presentation.

He later told Sky Sports: “It’s terrible luck on the young kid. It’s devastating for him but he will come back again – there’s no doubt about it.

“He changed his grip so he wasn’t using that part of his hand; it shows what a future he has. A lot of Test cricket is played in your mind and he’s made of the right stuff.

“He wanted to bat. You can’t hold the guys back like that. I’d much rather a bloke played like that and gave everything for England and then we can sort it out afterwards.

“He was desperate to get out there. He kept going to nets seeing if he could change this or that; for a 19-year-old to go and do that and play like that is what we want from English people.

“He showed so much determination and courage that we should applaud that.”

England head coach Trevor Bayliss echoed Cook’s sentiments and admitted that he was highly impressed with the fact that the Bolton native managed to play through the pain and score an unbeaten 59.

“It was a fantastic effort – another plus in his corner. Not only can he play but he’s a tough little character as well,” Bayliss added. “I think the doctors probably knew it was cracked but they didn’t want to distract him either. It was a gutsy effort.

“We’ve had to talk him into the (fact that the) best thing is going home – he wants to get out and play.”

When asked who would replace Hameed in the squad, Bayliss pointed out that no decision has been made as of yet.

“We’ve got a few names in our mindset for sure but we’ve got to get together and chat as a selection group over the next 24 hours,” he said. “We’ve got a bit of time before the next match so it’s up to us to come up with a name.”

In the three Tests Hameed played, he scored 219 runs, which included two half-centuries, at an impressive average of 43.80.