Jonny Bairstow replies to Sunil Gavaskar: He’s free to call me, I will speak about my will to do well in Tests

After a brilliant 94 in the first ODI, Jonny Bairstow scored another masterful knock of 124 off 112 deliveries in the second game on Friday to help England secure a commanding six-wicket, series-levelling victory over India.

After his match-winning performance, Bairstow responded to one of cricketer turned commentator Sunil Gavaskar’s earlier comments on him. Bairstow, who had a failed stint in the Tests against India last month with three ducks in 4 innings, maintains that he is very much eager to do well in Test cricket.

“First of all, no, I hadn’t heard that and secondly, I am interested as to how opinion can have been made especially when there has been no correspondence and communication between myself and him.

So he is more than welcome to give me a ring and I will speak to him about my will to do well in Test cricket and the enjoyment I do get out of playing Test cricket. As I said, my phone is on. If he wants, he can call or message me,” Bairstow said after England’s series-levelling win.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) did not include Bairstow when they named their Test central contract last year and instead gave him a white-ball specialist contract. The board has been slammed by many fans and critics for not having managed Bairstow well.

“We have Adil Rashid coming in at 10 or 11. Adil on his own rights has got 10 first class hundreds. To have that kind of player coming in at 10 or 11, not many teams around the world have that. If you couple that with the power-hitters in Moeen Ali, Curran brothers, the list can go on. So yeah, definitely does give you a lot of confidence knowing that the batting lineup is strong,” he said about England’s batting depth.