Batting against white ball whips up a Test recipe

MUMBAI: India’s last sighting of Jonny Bairstow in Tests before this series was his being dismissed for three ducks in four innings, clueless against India’s spin. Within a few days he was carting India’s limited-overs bowlers all around the new Ahmedabad stadium, carrying no scars of his Test shortcomings. That’s the life for a modern all-format batter.

Switching from Tests to white-ball action is easier though. What Bairstow is doing in the ongoing series is more creditable. One would have thought coming to a five-Test series from The Hundred, the newly launched league, as the worst possible preparation. But here he is as England’s best batsmen after run-machine Joe Root. Bairstow isn’t alone; many of these naturally attacking batsmen are creating their own space in Test cricket.

Unbeaten on six overnight with England 245 runs adrift, he put his hand up to support Root. In a 124-run partnership with his skipper, Bairstow (57) played a stellar role to help shape a solid day for England. He was promising in the Nottingham Test too, scoring 29 and 30 facing 121 balls with a lot of control. When you consider that he is one of England’s most destructive white-ball batsmen and a prolific six-hitter, it is a remarkable adjustment.

He couldn’t have done it without a method. Bairstow switched his set up from a stationary leg-stump guard, from staying slightly low in whiteball cricket to an upright stance with an off-stump guard and a back-and-across trigger. He sometimes goes further outside the stumps, but the technique gives him a better understanding of his off-stump.

Ex-skipper Michael Atherton, while doing TV commentary recalled his conversation with Bairstow earlier on Saturday where he spoke of the desire to succeed in Tests. “That’s a starting point,” he said.