Jonny Bairstow marked his 100th Test appearance in the ongoing match in Dharamshala. However, the match didn’t go as he might have expected. The Ben Stokes-led side was restricted to 218 runs. Subsequently, the Indian batters completely dominated the English bowling lineup, posting a mammoth 477 runs in their first innings. As of now, the visitors are trailing behind India’s total.
Shubman Gill and Jonny Bairstow engage in banter; Jurel, Sarfaraz step in
Bairstow scored 29 off 18 balls in the first innings. In the second innings, England faced early blow, but Bairstow once again showcased his aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach. He seemed to be in good form during the second innings and was also involved in a verbal banter with Indian players Shubman Gill, Dhruv Jurel, and Sarfaraz Khan. This incident occurred before lunch on day 3.
The banter began when Jonny Bairstow teased Shubman Gill, asking, “What did you say to Jimmy about getting tired, and he still managed to get you out afterward?” Gill promptly retorted, “So what if it was after 100, how many centuries have you scored here?”.
Provoked by this, Jonny continued to chirp, “How many hundreds have you got in England?” Amidst this banter, Dhruv Jurel hilariously stepped in, saying, “Jonny Bhai, easy.” Following, a delivery was bowled, and later, Sarfaraz Khan didn’t shy away from joining the banter, remarking, “Thoda sa runs kya banadiya, jyada uchhal raha hai (Scored a few runs, and now he’s jumping high)”
🫶🏻🫶🏻 pic.twitter.com/uBq4DueaYX
— z | world champions💗🇮🇳 (@77ftw_) March 9, 2024
https://twitter.com/shivani_45D/status/1766347613840998785
A few overs later, Jonny Bairstow’s innings came to an end at 39 off 31 balls and he received an animated send-off from the likes of Gill and Sarafarz. The England innings continued to tumble as skipper Ben Stokes and the keeper-batsman Ben Foakes were both castled by R Ashwin.
ALSO WATCH: Sarfaraz Khan nails ramp shot against Mark Wood; the bowler exchanges words in frustration
As of the writing of this article, England was trailing by 140 runs with 4 wickets in hand. R Ashwin had secured a fifer in his 100th Test match. Joe Root was at the crease, accompanied by tailender Tom Hartley. India is in the driver’s seat, just four wickets away from a 4-1 series win.
