Keaton Jennings will make his England debut in the fourth Test against India that begins on Thursday, a match that could see Jake Ball recalled to the side amid lingering doubts over the fitness of Stuart Broad.
Alastair Cook, who in Jennings will have his 11th opening partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012, rated Broad’s chances of a return following a foot tendon injury as 50-50 but the bowler was scarcely involved in training on Wednesday.
While fast bowlers often rest up the day before a Test, Broad was looking to prove his fitness after missing the defeat in Mohali. He was expected to replace the off-spinner Gareth Batty and England could turn to Broad’s Nottinghamshire team-mate Ball, who made his debut last summer, ahead of fellow reserve seamer Steven Finn.
A further option for Cook and Trevor Bayliss is the uncapped left-armer Liam Dawson, who is also on standby for a possible Test debut should England opt to take three spinners into the match on a Mumbai pitch expected to turn.
The 24-year-old Jennings has replaced Haseeb Hameed in the lineup, after the teenager suffered a broken finger in Mohali that leaves England 2-0 down in the series with two Tests to play. He comes into the side after a breakthrough county season for Durham and with a hundred to his name when captaining the Lions against the United Arab Emirates in Dubai last week.
“Keaton will make his debut. It’s a great opportunity for the guy,” Cook said. “He’s in good touch and he’s spent time in the middle for the Lions, and it will be a special day for him. It’s similar to what happened to me 10 years ago, flying out 48 hours before the game [for his debut in Nagpur in 2006].”
“I had never met him properly before, so it could have been daunting but having [his Durham team-mate] Ben Stokes around has helped. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders – mentally very strong – and so we wish him all the luck. It’s disappointing about Hameed – we have found player there – but if Keaton comes in it will add to our top-order players.”
Cook moved to clarify an assertion by Bayliss that he, not the captain, will deliver a reminder to the players over the need to bat positively in Mumbai. There is a feeling that after racking up 537 in Rajkot they have lost their way.
Those comments could have been interpreted as a challenge to Cook’s authority – Bayliss has previously maintained the primacy of the captain – but the 31-year-old was fully aware a reminder would be issued and agrees with the message.
Cook said: “I knew what was coming out, we chatted after Mohali and as part of the leadership group we discussed how we wanted to play and what had happened after the first Test. We have to take the second innings of Vizag out of the equation [when looking to bat out for a draw] and I do wonder if that tied into the third Test. There was a hangover and we went back into our shells.
“It was a clear message we want more intent. The team responded to something similar in his first game in Cardiff during 2015 Ashes Test. Hopefully we go back to that level. Rajkot was our blueprint. It wasn’t Trevor saying it, I was part of the conversation and I agree our players play better with a direction.”
Asked if he and Bayliss are aligned in their outlook, Cook said: “Yes, we are trying to win games of cricket for England. My batting has been about wearing the opposition down but that doesn’t change the intent I need to have. There is definitely different approaches, it’s not just fours and sixes, it’s the intent to score that gets you in good positions.”
India will be without Ajinkya Rahane for the final two Tests after the middle-order batsman, who has struggled to make an impact, suffered a broken finger during net practice. He has been replaced in the squad by the uncapped Manish Pandey.
The seamer Mohammad Shami has reported a sore knee and Bhuvneshwar Kumar is in line for a recall.
