“Don’t poke the bear again,” Ian Bishop suggests India to leave Jonny Bairstow on his own after Englishman smashed rapid hundred at Edgbaston

The former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop is of the opinion that India might have done without sledging Jonny Bairstow on the third morning of the ongoing Edgbaston test match because Bairstow is one of those players who turn particularly dangerous after being sledged.

Jonny Bairstow was struggling quite a bit against the Indian fast bowlers at the start of his innings in the latter parts of the second day and on the third morning. During that period of play, the former Indian captain Virat Kohli had a go at him, as he told the Indian fielders that Bairstow couldn’t sight the ball properly.

Bairstow didn’t like the sledging and he had a brief argument with Virat, but after the argument, Bairstow started playing his aerial shots and started connecting all of them from the middle of the bat.

The onslaught was so rapid that Bairstow got to the three-figure mark in no time and although he still couldn’t save England from conceding a huge lead, he kept the poms in the game.

Ian Bishop was in agreement with a lot of pundits that Virat’s remarks might have motivated Jonny Bairstow

A lot of pundits reckoned after Bairstow’s onslaught that Virat Kohli should have left Bairstow on his own when he was struggling to put the bat on the ball and was missing a no. of deliveries because it’s very much possible that the remarks made by Virat from the slip cordon might have motivated Bairstow.

Ian Bishop was also one of those former players who were in agreement with that theory as he tweeted “Don’t poke the bear that is Jonny Bairstow again please……”

Don’t poke the Bear that is Johnny Bairstow again please……..

— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) July 3, 2022

Bairstow himself, however, shrugged it off at the end of day’s play saying it’s all part and parcel of the game and Virat Kohli always plays his cricket with a lot of passion which makes him a big character in the game.