The coronavirus pandemic has brought the entire planet on its knees as almost everything has been stopped. In the meantime, cricketers are doing several other things to engage with fans. Some are heading towards social media to chat with fans, while some are getting involved in podcasts to discuss what’s going to happen in future or what is their current lifestyle.
In the process, England wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow joined a SkySports podcast hosted by former English cricketer Rob Key alongside Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain.
Bairstow was asked about the possibility of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, which was recently postponed by BCCI till mid-April. The 30-year-old responded and said that they (India) are facing a lockdown currently, so he is not aware of any update.
Atherton asked Bairstow about the experience of playing in the lucrative league for Sunrisers Hyderabad team and his partnership with Australian cricketer David Warner.
“It was an amazing experience. I had played against Dave [Warner] but then playing with him, it was fascinating getting an insight into the way he goes about T20 cricket,” Bairstow told in the podcast.
Bairstow revealed that Warner had a bad boy image in international cricket, but while playing alongside him in IPL, he was a completely different player.
“He [Warner] has played that role [of pantomime villain] in international cricket, trying to get under the skin of the opposition but going into an environment I’d never been into before, I couldn’t have asked for much more.”
“He was very welcoming and very helpful, whether it was on the opposition we were playing against or the pitches we were playing on.”
Bairstow and Warner shared four century stands for the franchise in the last term, including one of 185 when both batsmen scored tons against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore side.
Bairstow also revealed that he wasn’t sure whether he’s going to play in SRH as there were so many good overseas players but luckily got the opportunity, and it turned out to be great.
The English cricketer has played 10 matches in IPL so far, in which he has accumulated 445 runs with an outstanding average of 55.62 and a strike-rate of 157.24. Bairstow also has two fifties and one century to his name in the cash-rich league.
