Former England captain Michael Vaughan has lauded Jonny Bairstow’s stellar form in Test cricket, saying the middle-order batsman has experienced great form only once or twice in his cricketing career.
Bairstow has been an exceptional batsman for his new, aggressive approach to playing Test cricket under England captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, being named ‘Player of the Match’ for England’s unbeaten 106 and 114 in seven. was chosen. wicket win over India at Edgbaston, which helped them defeat the five-match Test series 2–2 and retain the Pataudi Trophy.
He shared an unbeaten 269-run partnership with Joe Root (142) for England and successfully chased down 378 runs, which was his highest target in Test cricket. Bairstow is the highest run-scorer in Test cricket this year, scoring 994 runs in eight matches at an average of 76.46, including six centuries and one half-century. He will be seen in the ODI against India next week after being rested from the T20I series starting on Thursday.
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“Jonny Bairstow is currently going through the kind of hot streak that batsmen go through only once or twice in their career when they feel almost invincible. I experienced it in 2002-03 when things were clear and scoring runs was easy. I scored a lot against India in the summer and then continued that form in the Ashes in Australia. But I am not sure mine was anywhere as strong as what Johnny is going through at the moment,” Vaughan wrote in his column for The Daily Telegraph on Thursday.
Vaughan said Bairstow’s stellar form has been such that he has even beaten former captain Joe Root, who himself has been in excellent Test form.
“How well Johnny is playing is shown by the fact that there is someone at the other end, Joe Root, scoring almost as many runs but barely being mentioned. He is going to take a heavy toll on the greatest batsman England has ever produced,” said Vaughan.
Vaughan further remarked that the people in England’s Test setup in the form of Stokes and McCullum have not made it difficult to chase down 277, 299, 296 and 378.
“I really don’t think he has made the chase riskier. He has played with determination and aggression, but also great skill. See how Root and Bairstow took India to Edgbaston on Monday evening Trapped,” said Vaughn.
“What this England team has achieved in four Test matches, I have never seen before. Apart from the Stokes-Leach Headingley Ashes win in 2019, which was incredible, I don’t think I’ve heard people talk about Test cricket for many years. They are talking to the public about cricket, and they want to go and watch them play. It’s remarkable,” Vaughan said.
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