'He wasn't facing bowling of this standard'- Graeme Swann explains Jonny Bairstow's struggle against India

Jonny Bairstow has been in the form of his life as he became the second-fastest centurion for England during the Nottingham Test against New Zealand, breaching the three-figure score in just 77 deliveries as the Three Lions ended up registering their first-ever red-ball series win after January 2021.

However, Bairstow was just a pale shadow of himself as he struggled against a lethal India bowling attack, spearheaded by stand-captain Jasprit Bumrah, managing just 12 runs off 47 balls on the second day of the rescheduled fifth Test match at Edgbaston. Former English spinner Graeme Swann has said that Bairstow is finding himself in this precarious situation since he has not faced a superior quality bowling attack of this level.

Jonny Bairstow looks a shadow of the player who was smashing it against New Zealand: Graeme Swann

“Jonny Bairstow looks a shadow of the player who was smashing it against New Zealand last week. He wasn’t facing bowling of this standard,” said Swann while doing commentary on the second day of the ongoing Test for the Sony Sports Network.

Coming back to this series-deciding Test match, England find themselves in all sorts of trouble with in-form Joe Root being dismissed early for just 31 runs against his name as the hosts are in a precarious situation, having lost half their side with just 84 runs on the board. Earlier, a heavy downpour had brought a fascinating session of play to an abrupt end that gave the visitors another chance to regroup themselves and strategize with the series on the line.

With Bairstow and skipper Ben Stokes as the last recognized batters, the hosts can ill-afford to make any more mistakes as they have a huge first innings deficit of 332 runs. For India, skipper Bumrah has been the pick of the bowlers so far with three wickets, while Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj have chipped in with a scalp each.