Jonny Bairstow was coming off an innings in which he won the match, which took place in the second Test at Trent Bridge. On the second day of the third and final Test, which took place at Headingley, Bairstow was once again tormenting the New Zealand bowlers with his aggressive batting. After Day 2, England is in a favorable position because of the innings played by Bairstow.
After Joe Root was removed from the game, England found themselves in a precarious position with a score of 21/4. Their difficulties were compounded when captain Ben Stokes was removed from the game while attempting to counterattack, and then Ben Foakes was removed from the game without being able to score. Bairstow did not stop playing his strokes even after all of those wickets fell, and he punished the bowlers anytime they made even a little mistake.
The right-hand batsman reached his 10th century in Tests and was still undefeated on 130 when play for the day ended. After his innings, the English batter gave an interview to the press in which he said that he is attempting to bat with a clear head and is trying not to pay heed to the skeptics. At the crease, he is keeping a calm demeanor and leaning more on his natural attacking approach.
“I’ve been able to play in this manner for as long as I can remember. It seems to me that your individuality is starting to shine through. At the crease, I’m just a less uptight version of myself because I’ve learned to relax there. I’ve been transported back to the time when I was young Jonny, and now I’m looking at the ball and seeing the ball. There is often a great deal of nonsense spoken about a wide variety of topics, and this nonsense may occasionally enter your head and cause it to become cluttered. The most important thing is me being myself,” Jonny Bairstow said at the end of the day’s play.
Sometimes we make a straightforward game more difficult than it needs to be: Jonny Bairstow
The explosive batter’s go-to strategy has always been to smash his way out of difficulty, but he hasn’t had much success with this strategy until lately. The wicketkeeper-batsman discussed the ease with which Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes are handling the situation behind the scenes. On the field, rather than placing pressure on the players, they have allowed them to freely express who they are as players.
“Sometimes we make a simple game more difficult than it has to be. We are making an effort to reduce the complexity of the situation so that more individuals will feel comfortable expressing themselves publicly. You can either retreat into your shell and bat the way people have done for years and years – attempt to survive against bowlers like Boult and Tim Southee when they’re bowling so brilliantly,” he continued.
