T20 star Malan embraces unexpected Test recall

The world’s No.1 ranked Twenty20 batsman Dawid Malan admits he didn't expect to get another crack at Test cricket.

But after earning a recall for England's third Test against India starting at Headingley on Wednesday, Malan says he is ready to make the most of his surprise chance.

Despite a lack of red ball cricket, Malan has been drafted in to bolster England's faltering top order and take up the No.3 slot against India.

It brings the 33-year-old full circle after being dropped against the same opponents in 2018, just five Tests after finishing the 2017-18 Ashes as England's top scorer in Australia thanks to a fine 140 in Perth.

Since then he has gone on to forge a productive path in short form cricket, including stints in the KFC BBL and Indian Premier League while he has also spent the past 11 months on top of the international T20 batting rankings.

But it means he has had only one first-class outing this year, when he scored 199 for Yorkshire in early June.

"I have always wanted to have another crack at Test cricket," Malan said.

"Realistically, did I think it would happen? Probably not, so it's a fantastic opportunity."

Malan has a chance to prove former national selector Ed Smith wrong after a harsh assessment following his 2018 Test axing.

Malan admitted he struggled after Smith sent him away with an observation that he may be better suited to overseas conditions.

"I didn't score enough runs … but to then have comments that derail you slightly as a player and get pigeonholed into things … it's amazing how it leads to every single Tom, Dick and Harry having an opinion on you," Malan said.

"It probably did affect me for the next four, five, six months.

"Having a bit of a break and gathering my thoughts, I found a new lease of life and realised what I'd done wrong the first time. 

"Luckily enough I was still in and around the white ball stuff to put some of that into practice, so hopefully this time around the stuff I've learned puts me in good stead."

Malan will face India less than a week after he lined up in The Hundred eliminator for the Trent Rockets.

"Not playing a lot of red-ball cricket probably doesn't help with the rhythms and the flows of Test cricket but that's the challenge," Malan said.

Malan will replace Dom Sibley in the XI meaning Haseeb Hameed will move up the order to open with Malan to slip into the No.3 spot.

The uncapped Saqib Mahmood and Craig Overton are also vying to take over from the injured Mark Wood (shoulder).

India have indicated they will pick the same XI from the Lord’s Test, although the return to fitness of Shardul Thakur and presence of spin star Ravichandran Ashwin in the squad means they have options should they want to tinker with their line-up.

England XI (probable): Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton/Saqib Mahmood, James Anderson

India XI (probable): KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj