Jonny Bairstow is likely to make his debut for Punjab in the game against Chennai. Bairstow missed the first two games for the team, where they first won against Bangalore but lost to Kolkata in their second. At that time, he was with the England team on the tour of the Caribbean for the three-match Test series. The series ended on March 27, with the hosts winning the series by 1-0.
The opening batter from England arrived in India on March 30 and went through a three-day hard quarantine. The right-hander has successfully completed his isolation and has joined the team’s bio-bubble. It will be interesting to see who he replaces in the team. In his absence, Bhanuka Rajapaksa has kept the wickets. Notably, the Sri Lankan has played two wonderful innings with the bat.
Talking about his recent form, Bairstow scored a hundred against the West Indies in the first Test, which ended in a draw. The team would be expecting him to carry the same over in the 15th season. Talking about his ITL career, he made his debut for Hyderabad and amassed 1038 runs in 28 games averaging 41.52 and striking at 142.19 from 2019 to 2021.
Speaking about his team’s performances, the Mayank Agarwal-led side had a great start as they chased down the target of 206 runs against Bangalore. However, they couldn’t capitalize on their winning momentum against Kolkata as they were thrashed by six wickets and 5.3 overs to spare. The 2014 finalists will be looking forward to bouncing back against Chennai, whose title defence has started with two losses against Kolkata and Lucknow respectively.
