"When you're under that much pain, it does become a mental battle as well" - Ponting on Jonny Bairstow's thumb injury

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has expressed his views on the thumb injury that Jonny Bairstow picked up during Day 3 of the fourth Ashes Test. According to the Australian veteran, the pain of an injury can lead a player to a "mental battle" as well.

England's hero on Day 3, Jonny Bairstow, suffered a steaming blow to his right thumb courtesy of a scorching Pat Cummins delivery. Things looked worse when the 32-year-old was wincing in pain. Thankfully, he was good enough to carry on and batted through the pain to score a gutsy unbeaten 103.

Ricky Ponting, while speaking to cricket.com.au, acknowledged how difficult it would've been for Bairstow. He said:

"When you're under that much pain it does become a mental battle as well for you because you know every time you move or go for an aggresive shot, it's probably going to hurt. So, that probably start wearing you down as well. You know that ball on ball, minute after minute, short after shot, pain that he (Bairstow) would've been going through that can weigh you down."

He further added:

"There's a saying in the game - 'Beware the wounded batter' and we probably saw that a couple of times today. May be it does free your mind up and give less things to think about."

Ponting lauded Bairstow for battling through the pain and scoring a hard-fought century. He added that with an injury like that, it is incredibly "rare" to come away without inflicting a fracture or a break.

"When you get a hit like that directly on the thumb or a bottom hand, it's very rare that you don't come away with a break or fracture. Remember he's a keeper as well so he probably had a few fractures and breaks through his career. If he's got through most of his innings with a fracture or a break then it makes the innings even better."

First ton for an England batter in the series and it's Jonny Bairstow 💥

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Bairstow clobbered eight boundaries and three sixes en route to his seventh Test ton.

"No doubt about it" - Ricky Ponting on if Bairstow's innings will inspire his fellow players

The former Aussie leader also conceded that Bairstow's special would set the perfect example and inspire his under-performing teammates on this Ashes tour.

Ponting elucidated that many English batters have a "scared" mindset and the innings from Bairstow would be a perfect example for them to replicate. The 47-year old said:

"No doubt about it. Because most of their batters going into this game with the exception of Root and Malan probably found himself in the same situation although he played well in Brisbane and Adelaide but had his two failures in Melbourne and then obviously end up being a failure in the first innings here (Sydney)."

He added:

"Most of them (English batters) would've been going with a similar mindset, i.e, almost quite a scared, fear of failure type of mindset. Jonny would've started his innings in the same manner as well. But once he got in. He was like - 'Okay I'm in now, now I can expand and work myself through the gears'. Like good test batsman do. Get used to for the 15 - 20 balls and then try to find a way to put some pressure back the bowlers."

Jonny Bairstow is the first England player to score a 💯 in the Ashes 2021-22 🙌

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With Bairstow's fightback on Day 3, England's score after the Stumps read - 258/7 in 70 overs. The hosts still have a decent lead of 158 runs over England. Day 4 will begin at 5:30 a.m IST on Saturday.