Pune: After smashing a match-winning hundred on Friday in the ongoing ODIs against India, England’s Jonny Bairstow has hit back at Sunil Gavaskar on his criticism that the Englishman looked ‘uninterested’ in Test cricket.
It was during the last Test at Ahmedabad against India earlier this year when Gavaskar commented after Bairstow was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin in the second innings of the second Test in Chennai.
Responding to Gavaskar’s comments, Bairstow said, “First of all, no, I hadn’t heard that and secondly, I am interested as to how opinion can have been made especially when there has been no correspondence and communication between myself and him,” Bairstow said.
“He’s more than welcome to give me a ring and I’ll speak to him about my will to do well in Test cricket, and the enjoyment I do get out of playing Test cricket. My phone is on and if he does want to give me a call or a message, he should feel free,” Bairstow added.
The 31-year-old went on blazing on the Indian bowlers, credited visitors’ batting depth for playing fearless cricket. “We have Adil Rashid coming in at 10 or 11. Adil on his own rights has got 10 first-class hundreds. To have that kind of player coming in at 10 or 11, not many teams around the world have that.
“If you couple that with the power-hitters in Moeen Ali, Curran brothers, the list can go on. So yeah, definitely does give you a lot of confidence knowing that the batting lineup is strong,” he added.
Bairstow scored 124 in the second ODI to steer England to a six-wicket win. Ben Stokes also played a knock of 99 as England chased down the 337-run target in the second ODI and drawing the three-match series level at 1-1.
