Jonny Bairstow, who has been on tour for the past few months, had a good start in a couple of IPL innings but couldn’t do anything special. After that, his coach Trevor Bayliss, the head coach of Punjab, even dropped him for two matches. But he was played today, and when he was played, what a blast he did!
He hit 9 sixes, 8 fours, and scored 108 runs in 48 balls, giving Punjab Kings a chance to win after 5 consecutive losses. It was a victory that didn’t look easy, and it doesn’t happen every day that when a team chases over 260 runs, we often don’t say that the match is going to be one-sided.
But the way Punjab chased this score and showed that they had scored 263 with 8 balls remaining, how can we believe this? But it happened, and it seems strange how far T20 cricket has come.
When Punjab captain Sam Curran was asked about 200+ runs being scored consistently, he said that nowadays players do more training, they lift weights, batsmen have become a bit fearless and are not afraid to take risks.
And a very big thing is that the T20 game is no longer a game of stats and numbers. Curran said that if you give 16 runs in an over, it doesn’t matter, but if you take wickets, it matters.
The era of stats, numbers, and averages is gone, now only and only match winners are needed. And for Punjab, the match winners are Prabhsimran Singh, Jonny Bairstow, and Shashank Singh. What players they are!
Two young players, not much experience, not on the international stage, this is their first or second IPL, but there is something special about these players. And they are very good people, Jhonny Bairstow said about Shashank Singh.
They are very mentally prepared, they know their game, they know where to play shots and when to play them, and then their confidence has to be applauded. What a player Shashank Singh is! Incredible! Incredible player!
Because he scored 68 runs in 28 balls, including eight huge sixes. So it shows that when Danny Morrison was commentating, he said that he is a beautiful player to watch, exquisite timing and fearless approach, yes, he played Sunil Narine a bit cautiously, but after that, the way he hit sixes after sixes to Harshit Rana and Dushmantha Chameera, the atmosphere was worth watching.
But once again our focus will go on Jonny Bairstow. Earlier, it didn’t seem like he was getting runs off his bat, but we’ve seen him do all this before. The problem is that we start judging players too early, saying that this is a useless player, he can’t play, he doesn’t have talent.
Oh! Those Jonny Bairstow’s iconic shots, no one else can play those kinds of shots. His bat is not a flower, its a fire, he hits half-slaps and hits the ball very hard. He hit a 105-meter six against Dre Russ today, which shows that when a player is at his peak, he finishes the match.
And for Kolkata Knight Riders, the two English batsmen must have seemed like a nightmare, as Jos Buttler had done the same thing the other day. Jonny Bairstow did it again, and it’s a good thing that Bairstow was out of form for a long time and it feels good when a player shows his redemption when he gets a chance.
The way he celebrated, spreading both arms, kissing his badge, there were some emotions, he was tired, but there was a little smile, he was happy, so it shows that he was enjoying the thing and was very supportive.
It seemed like Punjab was playing as a team. When Prabhsimran Singh got out, Jonny Bairstow went to him, put his hand on his shoulder, and said something like, “You played a good innings.”
Similarly, when Rilee Rousseau got out, there was a bit cheer up between the two as Rilee just walked straight towards the dugout. And the way Jhonny Bairstow was clapping when Shaanck Singh hit a long six, perhaps off Dushmantha Chameera, shows everything, doesn’t it?
How much our game has developed and how much respect players have for each other, how much they understand each other. And that’s why we are getting good results.
Yes, whether scoring big runs in T20 is a good thing or not, only time will tell. Or we will have to accept the beating of the bowlers, where earlier 10 runs economy was considered very bad. If a bowler gives 40 runs in modern day game, we can say that bowler has done a good job.
