Bairstow and Root have failed to live up to the expectations in the ongoing Test series in India.
Bairstow has registered scores of 37, 10, 25, 26, 0 and 4 in the first three Tests in Hyderabad, Vizag and Rajkot. As a result, the right-hander has come under severe criticism.
After a humiliating 434-run defeat in the third Test, England will certainly ponder over some selection decisions ahead of the fourth Test, due to start on February 23 in Ranchi.
However, England head coach Brendon McCullum has backed Jonny Bairstow to rediscover his form.
"You know I can't answer that, I haven't even seen the wicket. But I'd anticipate Jonny would be playing, yes," McCullum quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
"Yeah look, he's not scored the volume of runs he would have wanted and a couple of times he's got out kind of mildly for someone who's got the power game Jonny's got," he said.
"I don't have concerns over him. I'm not blind but he's done so well for us and he's had such an impactful career. We know that a top-quality Jonny Bairstow is as good as anyone in any conditions. So from our point of view, we've got to keep on giving him confidence and block out a lot of the external noise as well and keep him really present and focused on what he's trying to achieve, and I'm sure Jonny will come good," he added.
During the Rajkot, veteran batter Joe Root’s ugly dismissal in England’s first innings drew him a lot of flak.
Root, who was well-set at 18 after spending nearly an hour at the crease, chose to play a reverse ramp shot against Jasprit Bumrah but ended up miscuing it, resulting in a catch for Yashasvi Jaiswal at second slip.
His dismissal triggered a sort of collapse as England’s first innings folded for 319, conceding a substantial lead of 126 runs.
Since then, many experts have argued that the Bazball style of cricket doesn’t suit Joe Root, who has made most of his Test runs with the traditional approach.
Amid the scrutiny, McCullum has backed Root to excel in the rest of the series while also supporting the latter’s unorthodox approach.
"It's Joe Root, crikey. I mean, seriously? The law of averages suggests he'll fill his boots in the next two," the coach stated.
Defending Root’s ramp shot, McCullum said: “I think he's averaged about 50 with that shot [previously 60, now 30], plus what's happened after he's played that shot previously. He's got out twice doing it. You can get nicked off defending one or trying to drive one through the leg side. I don't know if it is as high risk shot in the modern game as what it appears in the previous game.”
"I would say that his statistics in the last 18 months or so, whilst people see a shot like that and they go 'oh, Joe Root is struggling to deal with this new regime' - but have a look at the numbers. He's averaging higher. He's striking at a higher rate. His impact on the game is still very, very significant.
"Imagine if this becomes the norm for Joe as well, with the talent that he possesses and the history that he's got. And then what's the ceiling? So this is a point: do we want just a normal Joe Root, or do we want a Joe Root that is even better. How many games are we going to win if that happens?"
(ESPNCricinfo inputs)