Highlights
- Jonny Bairstow has hit 5 centuries in this calendar year
- Jonny Bairstow hit 4 consecutive centuries, 2 against New Zealand and 2 against India
- Bairstow holds the record for scoring the second fastest ton for England in Test cricket
The chief architect of "Bazball" and currently one of England's most bankable batsman, Jonny Bairstow is having the run of his life. With five Test centuries to his name in 2022 so far, Bairstow has been batting on a different level altogether and does not look in any kind of discomfort against any bowler. Over the past few weeks, Bairstow has faced bowlers like Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Mohammad Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah, but he has made the craft of batting look extremely easy against these top-class international players.
Riding high on Jonny's form, the new English outfit has won four consecutive test matches and has made their approach towards the longest format of the game very clear. When asked about his dramatic rise in the red ball game, Bairstow credited his new head coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes for the kind of freedom they have given him to play his game. Taking India by surprise, Jonny played blinders and struck 106 and 114* to register a memorable Test victory by England. India was leading the series 2-1 and England had to make sure that they played their best and prevent India from clinching the series.
Jonny continued from where he had left in the New Zealand series and as of now it certainly looks like, he is all set to go past Joe Root's record of scoring the most number of centuries in a single year. Taking New Zealand by surprise, Jonny Bairstow struck 136, 162 which ensured that England comfortably win the series against New Zealand by 3-0. The wicketkeeper-batsman had missed the initial phase of the county championship as he was busy playing IPL cricket but had security from Brendon McCullum that his place in the Test squad was secure.
"Before we played New Zealand, there was chat about going to the IPL and not playing county cricket, but McCullum called me up and said I was locked in to bat no. 5 in the Test matches, he also asked me to get my head around it and crack it down", said Bairstow. Looking at Jonny Bairstow's red hot form, the ICC has awarded him the player of the month award and it will be interesting to see how South Africa plans to stop this brute force when they take the field against England on August 17 at Lord's.
