Take Bairstow out of firing line: Cook urges England to bench the out-of-form batter

Former captain Alastair Cook has urged England to drop wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow from the Ranchi Test towards India, to “protect the player” who’s having an abysmal sequence.

Bairstow, who’s taking part in as a specialist batter, has endured a woeful run within the ongoing five-match sequence. He is averaging 17.00 having registered scores of 0, 4, 25, 26, 37 and 10 in six innings.

“I’m taking him out of the firing line to protect the player, as I think he’s had a tough tour so far and India is a tough place to keep going on the treadmill,” Cook informed ‘TNT Sport’.

“I’m not saying he’ll never play Test cricket again, but it’s good to have someone who’s fresh of all the debris of this series so far,” he added.

Cook backed Dan Lawrence to interchange Bairstow because the all-rounder will step up out in Ranchi with none baggage.

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“When you’re not scoring runs, there’s a build-up of pressure and momentum from certain bowlers on you, so I’d let Dan Lawrence have a go.” However, one other former captain Michael Atherton feels the England workforce administration will proceed to again Bairstow to return good.

“(Bairstow) has been so central to this project that I don’t see them leaving him out now, at a critical juncture,” Atherton mentioned on the ‘Sky Sports Cricket Podcast’.

England path the sequence 1-2.

Rest Anderson and Wood in Ranchi, herald Robinson and Atkinson

India have determined to relaxation tempo spearhead Jasprit Bumrah from the fourth Test and Cook feels the vacationers ought to do the identical with their quicks James Anderson and Mark Wood, who’ve each performed two matches every.

The last match is scheduled to be performed in Dharamsala, the place the situations at altitude are identified to help pacers.

“I think James Anderson and Mark Wood will be very effective in the cooler conditions of Dharamsala, so I’m taking them out of the attack as they’ve bowled a lot of overs in a short period,” Cook mentioned.

He known as for the inclusion of Ollie Robinson and uncapped Gus Atkinson.

“The two people I’m bringing in are Ollie Robinson and Gus Atkinson — we haven’t seen Gus in a Test match before, but everyone I’ve spoken to about him thinks he could do well.

“We’ve seen a lot of Ollie Robinson, who has great skill and great control. He’ll give the control that Anderson gives, whereas Atkinson gives that freshness. Both will be raring to go.” Atherton additionally felt that England would decide to clean up their bowling assault by resting 41-year-old Anderson.

“My instincts would say they’ll freshen up the bowling, that they may bring in Robinson for Anderson and may think about Atkinson for Wood,” Atherton mentioned.