IND v ENG 2016: The Mystery Surrounding Keaton Jennings

Dec 6, 2016 at 11:01 AM

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IND v ENG 2016: The Mystery Surrounding Keaton Jennings

It’ll be absolutely correct to assert that since the 2015 ICC World Cup, England have been the most improved limited-overs outfit. After a dismal World Cup Down Under, the English setup witnessed wholesale changes as several experienced personnel were apparently replaced by young unknown names, eager to make a mark.

Things began to look positive for England, when former Sri Lankan and Kolkata Knight Riders coach Trevor Bayliss was appointed as their head coach. Bayliss began his stint with an Ashes win (3-2) against an Australian side, who were earlier tipped to thrash England.

Relatively unknown, but highly energetic individuals were given the nod, and the license to express their skills right from the offset. Doing so turned out to be a genuine masterstroke of a call, as these youngsters barely had anything to lose. England shed all their inhibitions from there on and since then, have been the most impressive ODI side for a while.

Their success in T20Is has been pretty impressive too as they made it to the finals of the ICC World T20 in India earlier this year. They could have well gone on to win the title, had it not been for Carlos Brathwaite’s sheer heroics.

Even during their present tour of India, England haven’t been as bad as people expected them to. Few might agree to the statement, but the fact remains there were in a position to dictate terms at Rajkot. The way Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes batted right on the first day of the tour at Rajkot, a clear purpose of intent was witnessed from them. In recent past, hardly any side has had the audacity to dominate in India. Who knows, England could have gone on to win the match, had Alastair Cook been a little more proactive with his declaration move.

After being 2-0 down, and with the fourth Test at Mumbai, England dealt with a major blow as teenage batting sensation Haseeb Hameed, who impressed one and all in his outings was ruled out due to a broken hand. Replacing Hameed will be Durham batsman Keaton Jennings.

Not much is known about the gameplay of Jennings, who is rated very highly in the county circuit. Keaton is the son of former coach and South African national Ray Jennings.

Ray Jennings coached the South African U-19 team to glory in the 2014 World Cup as the Proteas emerged victorious in the UAE back then. External political measures however saw Ray being removed from his designation as a coach and that prompted him to ensure that his son got a fair run in England.

Since then, there has been no looking back for the younger Jennings, as he has been a consistent run-getter for Durham in the county scene. A first-class average of just 35.89 might not mean high significance for the 24-year-old left handed batsman, but it is his recent form that matters the most. Against Surrey a couple of games ago, Jennings was in full flow as he played an unbeaten knock of 201.

When Jennings comes out to open alongside skipper Alastair Cook, he will be the latter’s 12th opening partner since the retirement of former England captain Andrew Strauss. Such has been the colossal instability at the top for England, as not a single opener has been able to ably assist Alastair Cook .

Against a massively dominant Indian outfit, the chances that Jennings does something special remain bleak, but as they say, cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. If Jennings goes on to do something special with the bat, it’ll surely lead to an intense competition between him and Hameed for the slot of the opener. Till then, all Jennings can think of is living in the moment and relishing it when he receives his England cap.

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