England announces squad for 4th Test vs India; makes an important change

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced a strong squad for the fourth Test, scheduled to start on Wednesday, July 23 at Old Traffic in Manchester. Notably, England is currently leading the five-match Test series 2-1 with one more game to go.

Moving into the details, spin bowling all-rounder Liam Dawson has been included in the squad and he is all set to make a Test comeback after eight years, replacing Shoaib Bashir, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the series with a fractured finger on his left hand.

It’s important to note that Dawson has played only three Tests despite being a consistent player for Hampshire in County cricket. Notably, he won the PCA Player of the Year Award in 2024 and men’s domestic MVP in 2023.

In the ongoing County Championship 2025 season, he has played nine games for his County side Hampshire, pocketing 21 wickets, while he scalped 11 wickets in the ongoing Vitality T20 Blast 2025 season.

"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.

The 35-year-old Dawson was most recent seen playing in England jersey in the shortest format of the game against West Indies after nearly three years. He went on to scalp his best bowling figures of 4/20 against the Caribbean team last month.

Dawson has played only 23 international games so far, collecting a total of 23 wickets. On the other hand, he has played 212 first-class games, pocketing 371 wickets at an average of 31.54 with the best bowling figures of 7/51 in an innings and 12/130 in a match.

England squad for the fourth Test vs 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, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.

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