'When will they learn to shut it' - James Anderson reveals Jonny Bairstow's reaction to altercation with Virat Kohli

Star England fast bowler James Anderson revealed what Jonny Bairstow’s reaction was to his altercation with Virat Kohli in the rescheduled fifth Test match between England and India in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Anderson also pointed out that Bairstow’s strike rate was around 20 before Kohli sledged him, and it was about 150 after.

The altercation between Kohli and Bairstow happened during England’s first innings of the Test match, in which Bairstow went on to score 106 runs off 140 balls. Anderson said that if there is anybody who should not be provoked, it is Bairstow. “Jonny was 80 not out and Virat had been going at him and sledging him a lot,” said Anderson on BBC Tailenders Podcast.  “I don’t know if you saw the strike-rate difference? His strike rate was about 20 before Virat started sledging him and about 150 after.”

You don’t want to rub up the wrong way to Jonny Bairstow: James Anderson

“His first words back in the dressing room at lunch were: ‘When will they learn to shut it?’ If there’s somebody you don’t want to rub up the wrong way, it is Jonny Bairstow,” added the highest wicket-taking fast bowler in Test cricket. Bairstow backed his first innings performance up with an unbeaten hundred in the second innings, scoring 114* runs off 145 balls.

Meanwhile, Bairstow shared that he had planned to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) not in the English county before the series against New Zealand. England’s Test coach Brendon McCullum later called him up and discussed his plans about Bairstow’s batting position, the England wicketkeeper-batter revealed.

“Before we played New Zealand, there was a chat about going to the IPL and not playing county cricket but Baz (McCullum) phoned me, and said I was batting five in the Tests, to get my head around it and crack on,” said Bairstow. Bairstow, in the three-match Test series, went on to score 394 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 120.12 and an average of 78.80, with two hundreds and a fifty and a top score of 162. England went on to win that series 3-0 over the Kiwis.