Michael Vaughan believes Jonny Bairstow’s Test career could end after India series

Former England captain Michael Vaughan is not too convinced with the way Jonny Bairstow has performed in the ongoing Test series against India and has even raised some concerns regarding his future in Test cricket ahead of the fifth Test match against India in Dharamsala.

Bairstow, who is set for the 100th Test milestone at Dharamsala, has struggled to find form in this series. He has managed only 170 runs in four Tests during the ongoing series and does not have even one fifty-plus score in his last eight innings.

The 34-year-old has particularly struggled against the Indian spinners, and England’s aggressive batting approach has not given him the desired results in red-ball cricket. Vaughan, even when acknowledging Bairstow’s achievement of reaching his 100th Test match, says that Bairstow’s position in the red-ball squad might be hanging in balance after this series.

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“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,” Vaughan wrote in the Telegraph.

After England’s disappointing performance in the Test series against India, they could look to tweak their red-ball team since they are currently eighth on the WTC 2023-25 points table.

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Vaughan also lashed out at Ben Foakes’ batting numbers and spoke about his inability to kick on after his starts and convert them into substantial scores. Despite his commendable wicket-keeping skills, Foakes’ batting contributions have been underwhelming.

“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,” he added.

Foakes, for all his skills as a wicket-keeper, has scored 173 runs in the series so far, and has not had a big score with the bat.