MANCHESTER: Nothing much has changed in Haseeb Hameed's appearance since he became England's youngest Test opener at 19 on the 2016-17 tour of India. He's grown a little moustache and beard, but is still skinny and has retained his boyish charm. "I have put on some weight now," he says with a smile, showing his biceps as mid-day met him and his father Ismail (also Haseeb's coach) over coffee yesterday. Haseeb's technique during his knock of 82 in the second innings of his debut Test at Rajkot attracted plenty of accolades. Some reckoned he was England's new Geoffery Boycott.

Intelligent Hameed

In the third Test at Mohali, Haseeb got hit in the first innings, but that did not deter him from scoring a brilliant unbeaten 59 with a badly broken finger, batting at No. 8. India skipper Virat Kohli called him an, "intelligent" English youngster, who is "definitely going to be a star".
The injury forced him to return home. Three seasons thereafter, Haseeb is nowhere close to Test reckoning. In fact, he has just six months left in his Lancashire contract to impress the county for an extension.