Tuesday 8 November 2016 22:09, UK
England opener Haseeb Hameed insists he is unfazed by the prospect of making his Test debut against the best side in the world.
Hameed was confirmed as Alastair Cook's new opening partner on Tuesday morning ahead of the first Test against India, making the 19-year-old just the sixth teenager to play for England.
And speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, he cut an impressively calm figure ahead of facing the world's No 1 Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin.
"I see it as an exciting challenge. It's nothing to be afraid of," he said.
"I'm 19, coming up against the best bowler in the world, the best team in the world - it will be a great challenge and either way it will be a great experience for me and I'm sure at the end of the tour I'll be a better player either way.
"I'm delighted to have got the call. I'm looking forward to it," he said.
"I think it's going to be an exciting series, I feel like it's an exciting side to be part of. We go into the series as underdogs and it's probably the biggest challenge in cricket right now, coming to India and beating them but it's one that we're looking forward to.
"We have prepared well the last couple of days and it's time to crack on now.
"It's important that we go in confident of our abilities as a side. We've done some very good stuff in recent times so if we stick to that I'm sure we'll have a good series."
India squad: Gambhir, Vijay, Nair, Kohli, Pujara, Rahane, Saha, Ashwin, Mishra, Jadeja, Sharma, Shami, Yadav, Pandya
England squad: Cook, Ali, Ansari, Bairstow, Ball, Ballance, Batty, Broad, Buttler, Duckett, Finn, Hameed, Rashid, Root, Stokes, Woakes, Anderson (unavailable for 1st Test)
