Follow UsDuring last year’s World Cup, Jonny Bairstow played his 100th ODI at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala and is now set to play his 100th Test at the same venue. The fifth Test against India, starting on Thursday (March 7), is going to be a landmark game for the 34-year-old who is set to become the 17th England player to feature in 100 Tests.
“I'm proud. You know what I'm like, an emotional guy, so yeah - get the tissues ready. It's absolutely stunning here. I don't think there's a more picturesque ground in the world. Cape Town is one of my favourite places, but when you take a moment, look up at the mountains with the snow and everything that goes with it up here in Dharamsala, it's quite incredible,” said Bairstow.
Bairstow, who made his Test debut in 2012, scored his maiden century in red-ball cricket in 2016, but it was the 2022 home season where he went berserk. Playing under the new leadership of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, Bairstow smashed 681 runs across six Tests at an average of 75.66. In this period, he slammed four tons in five innings.
"It's difficult to go beyond that summer. They were pretty special Test matches in the way the group came together and the way in which everyone bought into a style of playing cricket that the world started speaking about,” said Bairstow.
"It's just been a pure pleasure to play with some of the greatest of the game, to play alongside and share the field. When I started, you look at the line-up: Strauss, Cook, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Prior, Swann, Anderson, Bresnan, Broad - that's a pretty good team.
"You look at the guys you've grown up playing with. Jimmy is still going, Rooty I've played with since I was 12. Ben we have played against since we were 13, to share the journey with those guys. Woody and I played against each other at Under-11s and we look back on that and laugh about it with so much pride."
England have already lost the series 1-3, their first under Stokes’ captaincy, and Bairstow himself has been in terrible form. With scores of 38, 30, 0, 4, 25, 26, 37 and 10, the right-handed batter is averaging just 21.25 in this series.
"I have felt good all series, just not got the runs I've wanted to ... a couple of good balls, a couple of bad decisions (on his part rather than the umpires'). But that's what happens in India, it's allowed to happen. The whole trip I've been happy with how I've been moving, I've been in the zone the whole way.
"Like in every game, you put your best foot forward. No matter what it is, I'll be going out there, chewing my gum, puffing my chest out and trying to have a good time with the other ten blokes out there. Whatever the situation is, we'll be going out there with smiles on our faces, like we have done in the whole series."
He will be presented with a cap before the start of play in front of his family and close friends. After his father, David, committed suicide in 1997, it was his mother, Janet, who took care of him and his sister, Becky. Talking about his mom, Bairstow said: "The strength and courage she's shown to bring us both up, support us through the journey is huge. Without her, we wouldn't be here today.
"It's a special occasion for everyone who has been there on the journey, from the guys at the Yorkshire academy through to Baz and the guys here - everyone has had an input. Some better than others ... but you have to pick the good bits out and it all adds to the jigsaw at the end of the puzzle."