Ajmal Shahzad has completed a whirlwind six months in international cricket by being handed his Test debut by England against Bangladesh at Old Trafford.

The 24-year-old  Yorkshire all-rounder had not featured for England at senior level until last winter, when he made an impression with the England Performance squad and was included on the tour to Bangladesh.

His eagerness to learn impressed England coach Andy Flower and Shahzad, one of the many emerging cricketers in the ISM stable, was given his Twenty20 and one-day international debuts during the winter and has now been given a chance at the longer format of the game.

Shahzad was included in England’s first Test squad at Lord’s but missed out to Middlesex’s Stephen Finn, who claimed nine wickets and the man-of-the-match award to help secure an emphatic eight wickets first Test win.

But after Yorkshire team-mate Tim Bresnan was ruled out of the Old Trafford Test with a stress fracture to his left foot, Shahzad was given his chance after fighting off competition from left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom for a place in the starting line-up.

"Ajmal has impressed us a lot over the last six months with what he can do in the nets and this is a chance for us him to show us what he can do out in the middle," explained England captain Andrew Strauss.