Former England captain Nasser Hussain said wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow has done well in his 99-Test career. He said this before the fifth and final Test at Dharamsala, where the 34-year-old to play his 100th Test. However, Bairstow has played over half his Tests as England’s keeper as well.

Ahead of his 100th Test, Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail: “He polarizes opinion at times, but he has done pretty much everything England have asked of him whether it be as a batter or as a wicketkeeper-batter. Because of his late father David and the connection with keeping, he’s always been reticent to give up the gloves. But because of his brilliance with the bat during an international career of incredible innings – think of the six hundreds in eight appearances in 2022 or his maiden hundred in Cape Town alongside Ben Stokes in 2016 – debate about his best role in the side has lingered.”

Meanwhile, Jonny Bairstow has scored nearly 6,000 runs in his Test career which came at an average of 36.42 with 12 centuries. Despite currently playing as a specialist batter, he boasts better Test numbers as England’s keeper as well. As a wicket-keeper, Bairstow has scored over 3,300 runs at an average of 37.63 in 55 Tests as well. Nasser Hussain also paid tribute to Jonny Bairstow for reaching 100 Tests
despite several ups and downs throughout his career. With this, Bairstow became the 17th English cricketer to achieve the landmark
and the fourth from the current side after James Anderson, Joe Root and Ben Stokes.

“This will be a great occasion for Jonny Bairstow. He’s an emotional cricketer anyway, as we’ve seen over the years, and to reach 100 Test matches after all the ups and downs he has been through will make his family incredibly proud. This is a big game for him, however. Ahead of it, some people are saying this could be a case of 100 and out, and he’ll know it. There are generally two types of cricketers. Those that say they don’t read things in the media, concern themselves with external noise or take notice of the pundits,” concluded Nasser Hussain.