Jonny Bairstow during the fifth Test between England and India© X (formerly Twitter)
England cricket team player Jonny Bairstow‘s reaction to crowd signing “Bazball gets battered” during the fifth Test match in Dharamsala has gone viral on social media. England were completely outplayed by the hosts as they lost the Test match within three days. As a result, England lost the series 1-4 and this was the first series loss in the ‘Bazball’ era under skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum. In the video, the Dharamsala crowd can be seen singing “Bazball gets battered everywhere they go” and Bairstow, who was positioned at the boundary, was seen saying something in reply.
Bairstow had an eventful outing in the Dharamsala Test, which was also his 100th for England. The wicket-keeper batter was also involved in a sledging war with India’s Shubman Gill during his batting in the second innings. Even India youngster Sarfaraz Khan exchanged a few words during the intense chat in the middle.
Meanwhile, England captain Ben Stokes warned critics against any premature eulogies for his team, saying he will use the team’s 4-1 Test drubbing in India as inspiration for improvement.
The visitors won the opener but lost the next four including a final match thrashing by an innings and 64 runs inside three days in the Himalayan hill town of Dharamsala.
“I don’t give too much away as the series is going on but I’m always man enough to say we got beaten by the better team,” Stokes told reporters.
He said, “I have done a lot of India tours now. I am obviously disappointed with my performance for the team, but write this team off, write me off at your own peril.”
India clinched the series in the fourth match and handed Stokes his first Test series defeat as captain since becoming five-day leader in 2022.
(With AFP inputs)
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