Why is Jonny Bairstow not playing today’s 2nd T20I between Australia and England in Canberra?

Why is Jonny Bairstow not playing today: England are missing their premier batter on a day when the top-order has failed to get going.

England opening batters Jos Buttler (17) and Alex Hales (4) couldn’t replicate a blistering partnership from the first T20I in Perth in the second T20I in Canberra today.

While the opening duo was dismissed in the powerplay itself, all-rounder Ben Stokes (7) and batter Harry Brook (1) soon followed Buttler and Hales in the dressing room leaving England struggling at 54/4 in the ninth over.

Batter Dawid Malan and vice-captain Moeen Ali have since put together over 70 runs to steer the English innings towards a competitive total. With close to six overs yet to be bowled, the visitors would be hoping for the likes of Malan, Ali, Sam Curran, David Willey and Chris Jordan to put up a strong fight in the death overs.

Why is Jonny Bairstow not playing vs Australia today?

It is obvious for not just English fans but cricket fans, in general, to miss batter Jonny Bairstow on a day such like this. For the unversed, Bairstow isn’t part of the current squad due to a freak injury sustained while playing golf over a month ago.

Bairstow, who is unsure of a fixed time frame for a professional return, is guaranteed to not be returning to a cricket field this year. Probably in the form of his life, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Bairstow will be missed by fans in the ICC T20 World Cup slated to begin later this month.

England, meanwhile, made a couple of changes to their Playing XI for this match. Daring to tinker with a winning combination, England included Willey and Jordan for pacers Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.

“We’ve got two changes. Chris Jordan and David Willey come in for Mark Wood and Chris Woakes. Just giving Mark a rest. Wrapping him in cotton wool,” Buttler told Fox Cricket at the toss.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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