Jonny Bairstow, who had a disappointing Test series against India, was involved in two incidents of sledging during the fifth and final Test against India. He had a verbal altercation with Shubman Gill during England’s second innings, while the other was with Indian fans during the host nation’s first innings.
England had hoped to beat India in Dharamsala, given the favourable conditions. However, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill scored centuries, while Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal scored half-centuries to take India's total to 477. With a lead of 259, India dismissed the English team for 195 runs. R Ashwin took 5 wickets as India won by an innings and 64 runs.
During England's 1-4 defeat, fans at the HPCA stadium targeted Bairstow with chants of 'Bazball gets battered everywhere they go'. The right-handed batter, who was also playing in his 100th Test, responded with a smile.
England suffered their first Test series defeat under the captaincy of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. They have now dropped to eighth place in the World Test Championship points table.
Stokes cautioned critics against underestimating this England team…
“Do it at your own peril. We know where we lack and what we are supposed to do as a team. The tour of India will help the players to get better. I am disappointed with my performance.”