RANCHI: “No,” said England captain Ben Stokes with a straight face when asked if he had a conversation with Jonny Bairstow. The England No. 5 has just 102 runs to show in the three matches and his scores in the last four Tests read — 0, 4, 25, 26, 37, 10, 4 and 78. That is seven innings without a fifty and three single digit scores. And yet, with the series on the line, all Stokes had to say if he had spoken to Bairstow was “No”.
“If batters have a tough time over a short period, it will come under scrutiny. I don’t look at it like that, I look at what Jonny has contributed for a long period of time, since I’ve been captain. He has money in the bank, he’s a quality player. He’s someone who has been very integral to what we have done,” he would later elaborate.
Stokes is not wrong. Since he became captain till the end of 2023, Bairstow has scored 1003 in 20 innings — average of 59 and a strike of a whopping 89.3 only adds to it. To put into context, he has scored almost 23 runs per dismissal more than his career average. Whatever they are doing with Barstow, it clearly is working.
However, this series has not been the same. In three matches he had got out to Jasprit Bumrah (2), Ravindra Jadeja (2), Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. While one could say that there has not been a clear pattern to his dismissals, it is not unfair to say that almost all Indian bowlers have been able to set him up. Whether it was Bumrah early in the series or Jadeja in Rajkot, it seemed like Bairstow just cannot get himself going.
Even while batting in the nets on Wednesday, he was throwing the kitchen sink at everything he faced. So much that it gave an impression that he hasn’t been able to middle a few deliveries at a stretch. Which is perhaps why, there were debates as to whether Dan Lawrence should come in place of Bairstow. That he can bowl a bit only added to his case, but Stokes, and head coach Brendon McCullum, drew a line and said they are going to back the players they have because it is what helped them bring out the best of the them.
"I'm not blind but he's done so well for us (in the past) and he's had such an impactful career. We've got to keep on giving him confidence and block out a lot of the external noise and keep him really present and focused on what he's trying to achieve, and I'm sure Jonny will come good,” McCullum had said after the Rajkot Test match.
On Ranchi, England would be hoping that Bairstow does come good in what will be his 99th Test match. For not just because of what he has done and brings to the table, but also because if he fails, it will have as much not a bigger impact in the score line of the series.