Mohali: Young opener Haseeb Hameed's tour is over as the youngster, who sustained a fractured hand during the first innings of the Mohali Test, is going back home.
Injured Hameed came out to bat today and showed his steely temperament with a gritty 59, which forced India to chase a target of 103 runs.
"He has got a broken hand, needs a plate within to fix it. Yes, it's obviously unlucky for a youngster, who impressed us all with his technique and talent and obviously now when he's playing for England, he will do anything to get out there," skipper Alastair Cook said after England lost the third Test here against India by eight wickets to trail the five-match series 0-2.
"To play like that, that was a very special knock. But he is out for the whole tour, he is going home. A replacement would be called," he added.
Cook said that Hameed was having difficulty in holding the bat.
"He was really struggling actually. He was holding with slightly different grip to not put pressure on it. Still the vibrations were there when he hit it. Without having a good grip, you use your little finger quite lot of times to grip in general to feel a good strength. He just took it off the bat and found it a lot easier," Cook explained.
Even rival skipper Virat Kohli patted the youngster and termed him one for the future.
"He showed great character for a 19 year old at this level. He put his hand up when his team wanted him to do it. He played a little bit with Jimmy Anderson in the end. He showed great maturity to play with tail like that. He knew exactly what he wanted to do and you can sense it as a captain, this guy is intelligent and knows the game.
"He is great prospect for England and definitely going to be a future star in all forms if persists with his skill. Really impressed and that's why I patted him on the back, innings full of character and something to applaud," Kohli said.
With the England players wary after two Test defeats, they will be flying off to Dubai for a break as the next Test match will start from December 8 in Mumbai.
About the team flying off to Dubai, Cook said that they needed a break.
"The break has come at a very good time, obviously three back to back Test matches. I don't think we have to play four in a row but you never know. We have this week off and I think, most people are going to Dubai, mentally it will be a break from cricket. We come back little bit more refreshed.
"The challenge is try and put in that performance which consistently over five days we play well. We have done that in one game, we haven't done it in other two."