ENG vs IND 2018: England under "no illusions" about their World Cup chances, says Jonny Bairstow

England reaffirmed their status as the World Cup favourites via 2-1 series win over India.

Jonny Bairstow (Getty)

Right-hand opening batsman, Jonny Bairstow has come out and said that he is delighted with the way England performed during the last two one-dayers of the just concluded series against India and is happy with the progress that the side is making under Eoin Morgan but pragmatically pointed out the need for them to work over the areas of concerns. 

Having played his part in England's reaffirming of their status as the ICC Cricket World Cup favourites via the 2-1 series against India, Bairstow was quoted telling PTI as, “We’re under no illusions that there’s going to be injuries, changes that may potentially be made, and you can’t look too far ahead with conditions, This summer’s been red-hot; next summer might be freezing cold and raining."

“Different conditions, different pitches, stadiums, all contribute to different balances of the team. It’s(World Cup) still 12 months away, there’s still a long way to go. A lot of cricket to be played. To beat the number two(ranked India) in the world, there was a lot of pressure coming in with that, a lot of people wrote us off with it. The most pleasing thing in that final game was it was almost like a knockout game in many ways."

Praising the effort of his teammates, Bairstow further added, “We had to put in a performance and to set the tone like our opening bowlers did up top after winning the toss and bowling first was really pleasing for us as a team, and naturally I’m really delighted for Rooty, to go and get his 100 at his home ground. It was great. Back home in front of a home crowd; the support all the way around the country’s been great. To go back home, to win at Headingley and win the series was great fun.”

“I’m absolutely delighted. The one-day side’s been pretty tough to break into, because people have been playing so well. It’s just been a case of trying to take the opportunities when you can. It’s been a bit frustrating at times but now, looking back, those are the things that make you hungrier and the desire a bit stronger to succeed when you do get the opportunity to play. There’s 11 important cogs all the way through. Everyone, with different aspects of their game, contributes into us hopefully performing and improving as a side leading into next year’s World Cup.”

(Inputs from Sport 360)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 20 Jul, 2018

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