England`s assistant batting coach Graham Thorpe said on Friday that Jonny Bairstow will join the squad after the first Test against India, but the official England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) media team later confirmed that the plan is still for the batsman to return for the third and fourth Test. The England selectors and team management faced huge criticism for resting the batsman for the first two Tests against India, which will be played in Chennai.
Thorpe defended the team`s decision to rest Bairstow for the first two Tests given the bio-bubble situation forced by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Every individual case is different. They are managing the amount of time in the environment. The T20 World Cup, which is coming up, got the IPL tournament as well where players gain a lot of experience. I suppose Jonny is on a white-ball contract at the moment as well but he is coming back in after the first Test back into the squad,” Thorpe said in the virtual press…