Jonny Bairstow is the most overrated batsman of the current generation: Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar and controversy always go hand in hand. Be it slamming the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials, or giving any controversial statements related to politics, the former fast bowler always seems to hog the limelight. This time, he has given a statement regarding England wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow.

Apparently, Akhtar has said Bairstow is the most over-rated batter of the current generation. Well, this bold statement from the cricketer-turned-expert will surely not go down well among the England fans, critics, and experts.

The wicketkeeper-batter is one of the destructive openers going around in the white-ball formats. His ability to switch the gear seamlessly and hit the best of the bowlers out of the park, has given opposition teams a headache. The right-hand batter is one of the integral members of the England team and has transformed the team by giving belligerent starts at the top of the order along with Jason Roy. Akhtar gave this big statement on Bairstow as per the reports by Sportskeeda.

Bairstow made his ODI debut way back in 2011, but opportunities arrived at a snail’s pace for the batter as England preferred Jos Buttler instead for the white-ball formats. But, the year 2017 changed everything for the 31-year-old and he was back with a bang by scoring over 500 runs in just 10 ODIs.

The right-hand batter also got to open with Roy, after Alex Hales was dropped due to disciplinary issues. Bairstow immediately cashed in on the opportunity and kept scoring tons and tons of runs for England in the last three years or so. He also helped England finally win the World Cup in ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. He scored 532 runs and was instrumental in giving England flying starts upfront.

Jonny Bairstow might miss the second half of the IPL

Bairstow’s pyrotechnics with the bat has made him a hot property in various T20 franchise leagues. He is also part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) squad in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has impressed in his short career so far for SRH by scoring 730 runs in just 28 games.

But he may not be available to play for the second half of the 14^th edition of IPL due to a packed cricketing calendar for England. The UAE leg of IPL will be played between September 19 to October 15.