MUMBAI: England's Keaton Jennings said hitting a century on test debut three days after arriving in India was like a "surreal dream" at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

Jennings, the son of South African former wicketkeeper and coach Ray, was not part of the original touring party for the five-match series and was only called up from the England Lions squad in the United Arab Emirates.

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The 24-year-old replaced teenager Haseeb Hameed, who broke his little finger during England's defeat in the third test in Mohali and returned home to undergo surgery.

Jennings could not have hoped for a better start to the first day of his England career after hitting 112 on Thursday in the fourth and penultimate test against India.

His celebrations at scoring his century were low key, given the momentous occasion.

"The ground went a little bit dull and I kind of mugged up a little bit," Jennings said. "I suppose at that moment you don't really want to jump around and go ballistic.

"The emotion that went over me, the elation, the pride and the satisfaction to get to a test hundred was really incredible, really special."

Once Hameed, who watched on from the stands on Thursday, regains fitness, Jennings may have to vacate his position as captain Alastair Cook's opening partner and drop down the order.

Jennings said he hopes he can do enough to make the selectors think hard about what to do.

"Thankfully, it's not my problem. Hopefully I can keep going the way I have gone today and make it a good problem," Jennings said. "It's out of my hands and it's not controllable for me.

"If I play, two tests, one test, whatever in my career, hopefully I can make them two happy tests."