Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes that England wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow has lost his place in the national Test squad after a below-par series in India.
Jonny Bairstow was brought into the Test squad against India for the last two Tests citing England's player rotation policy. It proved to be a disaster as the wicketkeeper-batsman never got going in the 4 innings that he batted.
He was out for a pair in the pink ball, day-night Test match in Ahmedabad.
Bairstow managed to score just 28 runs in 4 innings at an average of 7, which was lesser than that of primary bowlers Jack Leach and Dom Bess. According to Michael Vaughan, the Yorkshire-born wicketkeeper is gone from England's Test squad.
Vaughan told Express, "Jonny Bairstow is gone from this Test team. I can’t see him batting at three in England this summer or in Australia this winter. I don’t think there are really many positives to take from this tour."
“The only ones are that Joe Root, James Anderson and Ben Stokes remain up there among the best players in the world. Jack Leach has enhanced his reputation a bit as well,” he added.
The 46-year-old is of the strong opinion that England should have focussed on the red-ball format this year instead of white-ball cricket.
Vaughan said, “These four games should have been the pinnacle and the priority for England in this part of the year, not the white-ball game.”
“There have been tight moments in all three of the Tests that India have won, but India have managed to take back control of the match very quickly in all three – often in the space of an hour,” he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
