"India is very hard place to..." - Alastair Cook calls for Jonny Bairstow to be axed

England National Cricket Team batting great Alastair Cook, who has led the Three Lions to many famous victories as skipper, has called for the star wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow to be dropped from the playing XI ahead of the fourth Test against India National Cricket Team.

The Ben Stokes-led England are currently on the tour to India for a five-match Test series and their performance has gone downhill after a terrific win in the first Test. One of the main reasons behind the poor run of England has been the batting failure of Jonny Bairstow, who was expected to take on the Indian bowling attack with his Bazball approach.

In his fourth tour of India, Jonny Bairstow is averaging 17.00 from six innings and has registered scores of 0 & 4, 25 & 26 37 & 10 in his previous three outings in Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, and Hyderabad.

Notably, the expectations are very high from Bairstow because he is playing as a pure batter and the burden of wicket-keeping has been taken away from him. England have opted to hand the keeping duties to Ben Foakes, who is regarded as one of best glovemen in the world currently.

Although the glovework of Ben Foakes has undoubtedly been top-notch as he has grabbed some stunning catches and saved crucial runs for his side, his batting has been underwhelming. The England star has registered the following scores in 6 innings against India – 13, 16, 6, 36, 4 and 34.

I’m taking Jonny Bairstow out of the firing line, to protect the player – Alastair Cook

Speaking to TNT Sports, England batting great Alastair Cook stated that Jonny Bairstow has struggled on this India tour, and leaving him out of the playing XI would be in the best interest of Team England as well as Jonny Bairstow. To replace Bairstow in the line-up, Cook suggested the name of Dan Lawrence, who is the only spare batter in the squad at the moment.

“He’s had a tough tour so far. And India is a very hard place to continue going on that treadmill. I’m taking Jonny out of the firing line, to protect the player.”

Talking about the ongoing 5-match Test series between India National Cricket Team and England National Cricket Team, Rohit Sharma & Co. are leading by 2-1 and one more win would seal them yet another series win on the home soil.

India faced a disappointing loss in the first Test by 28 runs as the Bazballers stunned the hosts. However, since then India have bettered their performance and have absolutely hammered the visiting team. In the second Test, India earned a 106-run win and in the third Test, they won by 434 runs.

The high-octane fourth Test match will be played from February 23 at the JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi. India National Cricket Team are expected to be without Jasprit Bumrah in the game as he is likely to be given rest after carrying the bowling unit on his back in the first three matches.

Notably, Jasprit Bumrah has been the top performer for India in the bowling department and despite the pitches not favoring pacers, he has managed to bag 17 wickets at an average of 13.64. He is also the leading wicket-taker in the series.