Jonny Bairstow running out of 'superlatives' for Joe Root

Jonny Bairstow, who has made a comeback into the England Test team for the first two Tests against India, said that Joe Root’s supremacy with the bat in recent times has left him lost of “superlatives”.

Bairstow had the best seat in the house for the most part of Root’s 180 not out at Lord’s in the second Test as he shared a 100-run partnership with his skipper. Recalling his batting with Root, Bairstow said that they wanted to relish the opportunity of batting, and they enjoyed the” buzz” of a full house Lord’s on Saturday.

“Heck of a lot as he does do for English cricket. He’s in second place for the leading run-scorer for the country, he is very special to us. To score another 180* at Lord’s, I have run out of superlatives for him. It is just great to see him in that form and putting on partnerships with him, enjoying every single moment with him,” Bairstow said in the press conference after the end of the third day’s play.

“It is amazing, Saturday at Lord’s when Joe and I walked out, we just wanted to enjoy ourselves and that’s what we did. We wanted to relish the opportunity and make the fullest use of it. It was really special to see the Lord’s buzzing, it was definitely back with the crowd.”

England were more than 200 runs away from India’s first innings total and it was on Root and Bairtsow’s shoulders to bridge that gap on this day. They batted brilliantly to not lose any wicket in the first session but Indian bowlers did not give up in their efforts and kept asking some tough questions of them throughout the day.

At the end of the day, courtesy of Root’s daddy hundred, England were able to secure a lead of 27 runs, which Bairstow said the team would have happily accepted at the start of the day.

“The game today went through different periods, the ball got a little softer as the day picked and it became tough for us to score boundaries and runs. There was a great ebb and flow in the game, if you had said that we would get a 27-run lead at the end of the day, we all would have been happy with it,” England’s new number five said.

What made Bairtsow feel so confident about England’s chances in the game after having a lead of 27 runs is the factor of James Anderson, who holds a fantastic record against India at Lord’s. He had taken his seventh fifer at the venue in the first innings and Bairstow reminded the Indian batting order of “tough challenges” that await them on the fourth day.

“We got a new ball in our hand, it will be a tough challenge for India early on. We would come out firing and pace in Woody, Jimmy and Rob. Hopefully, we would continue to challenge them at every juncture in the morning session,” the right-hander said.

Bairstow too scored a solid 57 to aid Root and England’s strong reply to India’s first innings total. He has shown signs of improvement in his technique after going through a tumultuous phase against India away from home, and the results are beginning to show.

He had looked good at Trent Bridge as well but could not stretch his score to a fifty. He would be disappointed with not converting a good 57 into a three-figure and failing prey to India’s short ball tactic but he was pleased to regain consistency in his batting. 

“It was pleasing, consistency is something you want, isn’t it? To get the 57 was pleasing, I would have loved to go on naturally but it was one of those things. The pitch started getting two-paced, flying to the keeper and one falling short of the keeper. It would get tricky as the game progresses,” Bairstow concluded.

India have their tasks cut out in the third innings of the Test match at Lord’s and they would need the trio of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara to come good with the bat after a prolonged period of struggles. England, on the other hand, would put their money on Anderson to dismiss India cheaply and then chase down the score to go 1-0 up in the series.