'He hasn’t played well enough' - Michael Vaughan criticises England star's mediocre performance

While England started the five-match Test series against India on a high note by winning the first rubber in Hyderabad, they couldn’t continue their winning run, succumbing in the next three. Consequently, the English side is trailing 3-1 after four matches and can’t win the series now.

While England made numerous errors in the last three games, the mediocre performances of their middle-order batters are the most significant reason for their defeat. With the spin attack inexperienced and prone to make mistakes, England’s veteran batters in the middle order had to step up.

Still, apart from a few individual flashes of brilliance, they were mostly ineffective. Joe Root averages 30, while Ben Stokes (24.62), Jonny Bairstow (21.25), and Ben Foakes (21.62) haven’t done anything significant, either.

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Bairstow’s string of low scores has been the most significant issue for England since he is among the better players of spin in the English camp and expected to counter skilled Indian spinners. Instead, the 34-year-old has looked at sea throughout the series and failed to notch up any 50+ score, with a best of 38 after eight innings.

Michael Vaughan criticises Jonny Bairstow’s mediocre performance

Michael Vaughan discussed the England team’s performance in the ongoing Test series against India in his latest column for the Telegraph. He wants Jonny Bairstow to feature in the next Test, his 100th in the format, but Vaughan feels he might miss Tests later.

“Jonny Bairstow plays his 100th Test in Dharamsala and I am delighted about that. It’s a great triumph of resilience and, even in terms of sentiment, I believe that if you get to 99 caps you deserve the moment of your 100th. However, you can’t escape that he could miss out on his 101st. He hasn’t played well enough across the 10 Tests he’s been back in the side, especially in India.”

Talking about Ben Foakes, the former English captain appreciated his wicketkeeping skills. However, Vaughan feels his wicketkeeping should not be enough for Foakes to keep his place in the side.

“I also look at the ‘keeper, Ben Foakes. He has kept magnificently in India, but I get the sense that he’s not in the inner circle with this setup and that his batting still doesn’t suit them. The last Test was a good example: he is great in partnership with a batsman, but struggles kicking on with the tail. Once again, his batting might not be enough however good his keeping is. England could give the gloves back to Bairstow at No 7, where his batting is more dangerous, or they could look elsewhere. They’ve got a strong crop of young keeper-batsmen coming through, like (the other) Ollie Robinson, Jamie Smith and James Rew.”

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