ENG vs IND 2018: You Have To Fear For Keaton Jennings' Career: Michael Vaughan

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan questioned Keaton Jennings’ mind-frame after his bizarre dismissal in the ongoing fourth England vs India Test.

Jennings walked into the game under a lot of pressure.  England had recalled Jennings, one of the 12 opening partners Cook has had since the retirement of Andrew Strauss, at the expense of Mark Stoneman for the series against Pakistan in May. Stoneman and Cook were statistically England’s worst ever opening partnership, averaging just 18.75 for the first wicket. But Jennings has absolutely failed to justify the opportunity.

Since making a fine century on debut against India in Mumbai back in December 2016, he has crossed 50 just once in 18 innings. With a career batting average of 21.94, time is fast running out for the left-hander. And his way of dismissal on Thursday has further hampered his chances.

Jennings was determined to leave a Jasprit Bumrah delivery after getting out so many times outside of-stump. However, Bumrah bowled an excellent inswinger to leave him stunned and trap him lbw as he departed for a four-ball duck. It was a bizarre dismissal, prompting Michael Vaughan to say that “as bad a dismissal as you can see in Test match cricket”.

“You have to fear for Keaton Jennings’ career,” Vaughan told the BBC. “When you see a dismissal like we saw this morning – he clearly went out there with a pre-determined mind to leave the ball.

“That was a full-ish ball on leg-stump and it was as bad a dismissal as you can see in Test match cricket.

“That tells me that his mind isn’t on watching the ball and reacting to the ball that’s delivered. His mind is, ‘right I’m going to leave it’.

“Once you get into that position as a batsman, it’s very hard to get out of that mindset. He’ll be certainly looking over his shoulder, as he should be with the way that he’s played,” Vaughan added.

England captain Joe Root, himself averaging just 24.33 in the series, had backed Jennings ahead of the fourth Test. He had reasoned that the openers have had to consistently contend with bowler-friendly conditions during the campaign.

“It’s been challenging conditions for the top order, for both sides,” said Root. “We’ve got to be realistic about things – we’ve got two very good players at the top of the order.

“We’ve got to go back and find ways to adapt, and that’s not just those two guys,” he added.

Meanwhile, England suffered yet another batting collapse and were all out for 246 thanks to Sam Curran’s 78. At one stage, even 150 was looking a distant dream after India reduced them to 86 for 6. However, Curran added 81 with Moeen Ali and 63 with Stuart Broad to help his side post a respectable total. In reply, India finished the day on 19 for no loss.