Who is Liam Dawson? England all-rounder set to make Test comeback after eight years

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The Chennai Test of 2016 between India and England is fondly remembered for Karun Nair’s triple century (303*) and KL Rahul's knock, who fell one run short of his double ton on 199. But, little did we know that that match was also the debut of Liam Dawson, who played an unbeatable knock of 66 and also took two wickets in that game.

England have recalled all-rounder Liam Dawson in their red-ball side after a span of eight long years. The team management is relying on the 35-year-old’s experience as their spin department has taken a jolt post the exit of Shoaib Bashir due to a fractured finger. He played his last test match for England in July 2017, since his debut in 2016 he has three Test caps, scoring 84 runs and taking seven wickets. He was also part of the England's 2019 ODI World Cup-winning squad.

Liam Dawson’s first-class experience might be handy for England

Liam Dawson’ selection is widely seen as a reward for his remarkable performance in first-class cricket. He represents Hampshire winning the PCA Player of the Year award in 2024 and Men’s domestic MVP in 2023. In the current County Championship he has played all nine games for Hampshire collecting 21 wickets at an average of 40.04. In his recent outing in Vitality Blast, he took 11 wickets in ten games.

"Liam Dawson deserves his call-up. He has been in outstanding form in the County Championship and consistently puts in strong performances for Hampshire," national selector Luke Wright said in an ECB statement. England currently lead the five-match series by 2-1 after it won the Lord’s Test by 22 runs.

England's squad for fourth Test against India

Ben Stokes (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes