Former Pakistan fast bowler, Shoaib Akhtar has always been know for engaging in a lot of controversies over the years. Be it slamming the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials, or giving any controversial statements related to politics, the former pacer doesn’t mince his words to hog the limelight. This time, he has given a statement regarding England wicket-keeper batsman, Jonny Bairstow.
Apparently, Shoaib Akhtar has said that the English opener, Jonny Bairstow is the most over-rated batsman 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.
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Jonny Bairstow is one of the destructive openers going around in the white-ball formats. His ability to change the momentum of the game is pretty seamless as he possess the ability to hit the best of the bowlers out of the park at will. 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. Shoaib Akhtar gave this big statement on Bairstow as per the reports by Sportskeeda.
Jonny Bairstow made his ODI debut way back in 2011, but his career changed on 2017 when he had scored over 500 runs in just 10 ODIs. He also got to open with Jason Roy, after Alex Hales was dropped due to disciplinary issues. Bairstow immediately cashed in on the opportunity and kept scoring loads 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.
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Jonny 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 IPL matches.
