Jonny Bairstow is set to miss this year’s Indian Premier League and focus on preparing for the Ashes as he continues his comeback from last summer’s broken leg.
One of the main catalysts for the Test team’s surging turnaround in results, Bairstow missed the entire winter – a T20 World Cup win and Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand – after suffering multiple fractures, a dislocated ankle and ligament damage from a freak slip on the golf course back in September.
The 33-year-old underwent successful surgery on his left leg – including the insertion of a metal plate – and has made encouraging progress of late.
After a return to running outdoors last month, Bairstow has recently begun hitting balls in the nets again. But the IPL that gets under way on 31 March and runs until the end of May is expected to come too soon.