Jonny Bairstow will join the squad after second Test against India and not after the first Test as was earlier stated by Coach of batting England Graham Thorpe clarified by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
ECB in its statement said that, “To clarify, the plan for Jonny Bairstow to return for the third and fourth Test and not the second Test is still. Along with Mark Wood and Sam Curran.”
On Friday, during an interaction with the media, Thorpe said that Bairstow will joining the team after the first Test vs India.
England’s choice to rest Bairstow for the initial two Tests was scrutinized by various previous players.
Bairstow was England’s second-highest run scorer after captain Joe Root during their last series in Sri lanka which they won 2-0 also he has scored 139 runs across four innings in the two-Test series.
For the first two Tests as a part of England’s rotation system, Bairstow along with fast bowler Wood and all-round Curran had been rested.
“I am perfectly happy with the system we are using at the moment. I stand by it,” said by Head coach Chris Silverwood to the reporters. “We have got to take care of our people. We are spending a lot of time locked in our hotel rooms inside bio-secure bubbles and it is quite difficult,” he said.
Previous captains of England Nasser Hussain, Kevin Pietersen, and Michael Vaughan scrutinized the transition to not handle the best XI against India. Hussain said that England have to play their best team as they can’t bully India at the latter’s home.
Hussain said, “They are an intense side. I think (Virat) Kohli has imparted that. Depend on it, at home, they are a considerable outfit. Possibly it is on the grounds that I was raised in India and I have seen India vs England as one of the incredible arrangement – all I would have asked is go up to Chennai with your best 13-15 players.”
Pietersen said in a tweet, “Big debate on whether England have picked their best team to play against India in the 1st Test. Winning in India is as good as winning in Australia. It is disrespectful to BCCI and England fans to not play in your best team. Bairstow has to play! Broad/Anderson have to play!”
Vaughan in a tweet said that, “ The only player in England’s top three that’s playing the sub-continent conditions with any control or calmness is resting for the two Tests against the best Team in the world at home #India !!! The world is officially mad.”
Before the series moves to Ahmedabad, the first two test of the four-match series are to played in Chennai. The third Test will be a day-night match, starting from February 24.
