"It'll be a really emotional time for him" - Brendon McCullum looking forward to Jonny Bairstow's 100th Test in Dharamsala
England Test team head coach Brendon McCullum suggested their excitement ahead of Jonny Bairstow's 100th Test next week in Dharamsala. The 42-year-old admitted that it will be an emotional moment for the Yorkshire batter and they are looking forward to sharing it with him.
Bairstow, who made his Test debut in 2012, will become the 17th Englishman to feature in 100 matches in the format. With the keeper-batter enduring a forgettable series thus far, he will be looking to make amends in Dharamsala on the monumental occasion.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday (Feb. 27), the former Kiwi skipper stated that Bairstow is quite an emotional character and it will be a massive moment ahead of his 100th Test.
"Yes he'll be playing his hundredth Test. We expect a good Jonny. Jonny loves a milestone too. He won't shy away from that. He'll play. It'll be really emotional for him. Everyone knows Jonny's story and as you guys will know he is quite an emotional character at times and big milestones like that do mean a lot to him. It'll be a really emotional time for him and we look forward to sharing it with him," McCullum said.
The 34-year-old had played a couple of promising innings in Ranchi but got out at the wrong time. Despite Bairstow's struggles, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have entirely backed him.
"Both of those guys have been outstanding in this series" - Brendon McCullum on spin twins
With Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley performing beyond expectations despite limited first-class experience, McCullum wants counties to give them more exposure.
"Both of those guys have been outstanding in this series. When we picked Tom and Bash, there was probably a little bit of hesitation from others, and from us there was a bit of apprehension, too. We thought they had the skills, but will they be good enough at this level? What we've seen is they are definitely good enough. It will be a slight frustration of ours if they weren't given opportunities at county level," McCullum said.
Hartley is currently the leading wicket-taker in the series with 20 wickets at 33.45.