Bairstow defends decision to play in the IPL instead of County Championship

Jonny Bairstow has defended his decision to play in the Indian Premier League instead of the early stages of the County Championship after blitzing 136 runs off 92 balls on the final day of the second Test against New Zealand to swing the game in England’s favour and earn himself the player of the match award.

Bairstow returned to England on 23 May following his stint with Punjab Kings in the IPL, giving him just 10 days to reacclimatise to red-ball cricket and prepare for the start of the Test summer. He then scored one and 16 in the two innings of the first Test at Lord’s and eight in the first innings of the second, before clicking spectacularly into form in the final two sessions of a dramatic Test at Trent Bridge.

“A lot of people were saying I shouldn’t be at the IPL and I should be playing county cricket,” Bairstow said. “But you are playing against the best in the world at the IPL. Being able to have those gears, to be able to switch them up and switch them down, is important. People say it would be fantastic if you had four games of red-ball cricket under your belt. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen in the current scheduling of everything and we’re very fortunate to be able to play in some of the best competitions against the best players in the world.

“When it comes to pressure situations, the more you’re able to put yourself under pressure the better. Because it’s those situations that you’ve gone through in the past, whether that be in the IPL, in one-day cricket or in red-ball cricket, that you’re able to call upon on evenings like that. And those opportunities and environments, whether they be for good or bad, are the things that [mean] you’re able to produce performances like we as a group have done in