"He is his own worst enemy" - Sir Geoffrey Boycott on Jonny Bairstow's struggles in IND vs ENG Tests
Former England opening batter Sir Geoffrey Boycott dissected Jonny Bairstow's poor series against India with the bat, claiming that he is his own worst enemy. Boycott observed that the 34-year-old's shot selection was wrong in both innings in the fourth Test in Ranchi.
Bairstow came to the series with plenty of expectations but hasn't lived up to them. The Yorkshire keeper-batter has managed only 170 runs in eight innings in the series with a best of 38, averaging a shade above 21. The third Test in Rajkot saw him register two single-figure scores amid England's record 434-run loss.
In his column for The Telegraph, Boycott observed how sweeping within the line of the stumps resulted in Bairstow's wicket in the first innings in Ranchi:
"The engine room of Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes has been pretty poor at times. Bairstow keeps doing daft things; he is his own worst enemy. In the first innings he played some beautiful strokes but then swept a ball in line with the stumps which is crazy with DRS."
Geoffrey Boycott further claimed that batters must never go with hard hands at the ball when it spins and keeps low, unlike Bairstow did in the second innings:
"In the second innings, first ball after tea, he pushed at it hard. You never do that when the ball is spinning and keeping low. On a pitch where you cannot trust the bounce, never push hard at the ball with hard hands. What was going through his mind is anyone’s guess."
The Englishmen have been guilty of batting collapses on multiple occasions against India. They got themselves in strong positions in both Rajkot and Ranchi, but poor batting cost them.
"I don’t feel angry, just sad" - Sir Geoffrey Boycott
With Joe Root vowing to keep playing the reverse ramp after his patient ton in Ranchi, Boycott believes there's no need of displaying such arrogance. He elaborated:
"I don’t feel angry, just sad because at times they produce so much thrilling stuff. They just need to temper it. Look at Joe Root. When he played like the old Joe, he didn’t look like getting out and scored a wonderful hundred. But then when he was asked, he said he would play the reverse ramp shot again. That is what I mean about arrogance."
The fifth and final Test will begin on March 7 in Dharamsala.