JOIN USJust a couple of days ago, Keaton Jennings wasn’t even sure if he would make the cut for the fourth Test. On Thursday, the southpaw joined his skipper Alastair Cook by scoring a century on debut against India in India.
The tall left-hander, who moved to England in 2011 with an aim to play for his adopted country, must be mighty satisfied with the decision. It helped that there were shining examples – Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott just to name a couple – and made his task easier that he held a British passport (his mother was born in England).
"I sat down with my dad (Ray Jennings) and I felt it would be my best opportunity to live my dream in the UK," he had said a couple of days ago. "And I'm very glad as I sit here now to have made that hard decision. The opportunity, the professionalism - I can't put my finger on it - but there was a welcome feeling, and feeling loved, and being pushed as well."
Jennings, however, is yet to share his first-day experiences in Test cricket with his father. “We had to hand in our phones this morning. Hopefully my phone will be sitting on my place when I get back. I'll try to get in touch with him tonight and hopefully share some special memories together.”
Having batted his way to a century, Jennings said it was beyond his wildest dreams.
“Waking up this morning, if someone had said to me 'you'll get a Test match hundred' I'd have bitten their arm off,” he said when asked about his ton on the day. “I woke up at five o'clock this morning, thinking I'd missed the bus, so I jumped out of bed, panicked where everything was and then settled myself down when I saw the time. But it's been a dream come true, and it's just surreal that it's come on debut,” he noted.
The youngster did go through some jittery moments at the beginning – there was a dropped catch and a DRS for an lbw appeal. He survived both of them.
“Thankfully it kind of hit his (Karun Nair at gully) hand and got out. I had a little bit of luck but I suppose that's the way the game goes sometimes. When the ball lifted up to gully my heart was in my mouth and just thought you got a nought in your first innings. But thankfully it went to ground.”