Former Indian cricket team all-rounder Irfan Pathan took an indirect dig at the England Test cricket team skipper Joe Root and the squad’s premier all-rounder Ben Stokes. Both Root and Stokes decided against participating in the IPL so as to focus on their Test careers.
However, both Root and Stokes could not score big in the first innings of the ICC World Test Championship series against the West Indies cricket team which started yesterday. The first game of the WTC series against the England cricket team and the West Indies cricket team began yesterday at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound. The visiting captain Joe Root won the toss and decided to bat first.
Root’s decision seemed to have backfired because the England batters struggled against the Caribbean bowlers. Openers Zak Crawley and Alex Lees were back in the pavilion before touching double digits while Root lost his stumps to Kemar Roach after a 14-ball 13. Even Ben Stokes lost his wicket to Jayden Seales 14 runs short of his half-century.
Irfan Pathan pointed out that centurion Jonny Bairstow plays in the IPL
After the departure of the top-order batters, Jonny Bairstow rebuilt the innings and scored a fighting century to ensure that the England cricket team ended Day 1 with 268/6 on the board. Reacting to the England cricket team’s performance on Day 1 of the ICC World Test Championship series against the West Indies team, Irfan Pathan wrote on Twitter:
“Jonny Bairstow plays IPL?”
Jonny Bairstow plays IPL?
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 9, 2022
Bairstow has regularly played in the IPL since the 2019 season. He was with the Sunrisers Hyderabad from 2019 to 2021 before moving to the Punjab Kings earlier this year. It will be exciting to see how Bairstow performs for his new team in IPL 2022.
