It seemed an end of the road for Jonny Bairstow in Test cricket after his horrendous couple of outings in India. Coming back from England for the last two Tests, Bairstow batted like a fish out of deep water and left-arm spinner Axar Patel made him look like a mediocre batsman at best.
There were genuine reasons to believe that his career in the longest format was over as England were returning to play at home against India and New Zealand and they had the young batsmen in Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence to claim positions in the middle order.
However, for Bairstow’s good and England’s worst, things did not pan out that way as they faced their first series defeat at the hands of New Zealand at home since 1999. The idea that the young batsmen could take over from failing and experienced batsmen were under the spotlight.
Then, fortunes smiled at Bairstow once again as Pope injured himself and got ruled out of the first Test against India. The top order also failed miserably against New Zealand and the England selectors led by the all-powerful coach Chris Silverwood went back to Bairstow.
As the series against India drew closer, the chaos started erupting for the hosts as Ben Stokes pulled himself out of the series and Joe Root needed someone to use his experience to absorb pressure in the middle order.
In walked Bairstow, just a slot below Root at the number five position and the duo was on track to succeed with what they set out to do. The Yorkshire duo had put on a commanding 72-run partnership that was filled with some signature crisp drives from England’s news number five before Mohammed Shami got him with the one that came in with the angle.
In the second innings too, he and Root forged an aggressive partnership to put India in a spot of bother. However, on both occasions, he could not stretch his good start into a substantial score that could have steered England to a formidable position.
Although being “excited” over his Test return, Bairstow conceded the issue of lack of big runs. That however is not deterring him to bat with the right mindset and he is banking on his approach to produce big runs going forward. He is not putting himself under a lot of pressure and rather wanting to enjoy his return to the England Test team and play at Lord’s after a long time.
"I spent a decent amount of time at the crease though I did not get big scores. If I keep doing what I was doing in those two innings, hopefully, I will do well. I am excited to be back in the Test side, first full house at Lord's in a long time (in the second Test). As I mentioned, if I keep that mindest, approach, that's going to be the best way forward for me in the near future. It's (Test cricket) is different, I am just looking to enjoy,” the right-hander said in the pre-match press conference.
England face a grim prospect of not having both James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the second Test and Bairstow admitted the “big loss” the hosts will have to endure at Lord’s. However, he is not losing his sleep over their absence and instead has put the onus on other bowlers in the side to put their hands up as the England ODI side did against Pakistan in the recent past.
"It's a big loss for the team -- both have over 1000 wickets between them -- but it's also an opportunity for others, just like it was against Pakistan recently. There is going to be injury, illness, you have to be adaptable within the group, we are playing a professional sport," the Yorkshireman said.
Bairstow will be hungry for big runs, especially against India as he has struggled badly against them in the longest format. Before the Trent Bridge Test, he had six ducks across nine Test innings against India and he would love to get a big one to settle all the debates around his credentials as a long-format batsman in the Lord’s Test.