IPL 2020: 'David Warner kept his ego aside to help Jonny Bairstow build a huge partnership' - Aakash Chopra
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has opined that Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain David Warner deserves credit for allowing Jonny Bairstow to hog the limelight during their partnership.
He made this observation while reviewing the Hyderabad-based franchise's emphatic victory against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in a video shared on his YouTube channel.
Aakash Chopra praised David Warner and Jonny Bairstow for the brutal attack they launched on the Kings XI Punjab bowling, but stated that the former was not at his absolute best.
"The SRH openers batted amazingly well. They kept on smashing the bowlers. Bairstow was absolutely outstanding although Warner is not the same Warner, we have only seen glimpses of his form from last year."
The renowned commentator lauded the Aussie opener for playing second fiddle to the marauding Jonny Bairstow, and called the duo one of the most successful opening pairs in the history of the IPL.
"But he has kept his ego aside to help his guy at the other end to build a huge partnership. The two of them have stitched together five hundred-plus partnerships in the IPL. It has been absolutely stunning boss, they have been very very good."
Aakash Chopra on Jonny Bairstow's match-winning knock
![Jonny Bairstow was awarded the Man of the Match for his enterprising knock [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2020/10/d6b3c-16022270946390-800.jpg)
While naming Jonny Bairstow as the gamechanger for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in yesterday's encounter, Aakash Chopra appreciated him for the consistency he showed while pointing out that he was unlucky to have missed out on a century.
"Jonny Bairstow has been batting very well. In fact, this was his third fifty. And in this game, it should have been a hundred, got out on 97 off Ravi Bishnoi's bowling."
The former KKR player named Jonny Bairstow's outright aggressive approach as his unique quality.
"But his unique trait is that when he starts hitting, he keeps on hitting. He does not think that he is near a milestone, that he has hit a six and will not hit off the next ball."
Aakash Chopra signed off by labelling Jonny Bairstow's knock as a sensational display of batsmanship due to the latter's intent to send almost every ball out of the playing arena.
"He does not show any discrimination, he sees all deliveries in the same manner, he wants to hit hard the white ball coming towards him and if possible outside the ground. That's the kind of batting he has displayed, he has been absolutely sensational."
Jonny Bairstow's swashbuckling 97-run knock off just 55 deliveries and his 160-run partnership for the first wicket with David Warner helped the Sunrisers Hyderabad put up a massive score of 201 runs in their allotted 20 overs. Their bowlers then bundled out the Kings XI Punjab for just 132 runs to hand them a crushing defeat.