T20 World Cup 2024: Can Jonny Bairstow Find a Spot in Crowded England Top Order?

Jonny Bairstow may have made his case for a spot in the England T20 World Cup 2024 squad with an explosive unbeaten century for Punjab Kings in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Bairstow, who had fallen down the pecking order after a poor start to IPL 2024, smashed an unbeaten 108 off 48 balls as PBKS recorded the highest successful chase in T20 history against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday (April 26).

Chasing 262, Bairstow and Shashank Singh (68* off 28 balls) helped Punjab KIngs cross the finish line with 8 wickets and 8 balls to spare, breaking the record held by South Africa when they made 259 to beat the West Indies last year.

Before that knock, Bairstow had registered just 96 runs in 6 innings, leaving his World Cup spot in doubt with the other English batters performing consistently. However, with the knock that included 9 maximums, Bairstow may have bolted back into the plans for England.

England are expected to announce their T20 World Cup squad next week before the ICC deadline of May 1st for the tournament that will be held in the West Indies and the United States. But will Bairstow make the cut?

Can Jonny Bairstow find a spot England's crowded top order?

Bairstow opened the batting in the shortest format for England during the home series against New Zealand last year, but didn't feature in the subsequent tour to the Caribbean to face West Indies.

In Bairstow's absence, Phil Salt seems to have made one of the opening slots his own. The wicketkeeper-batter has had a great IPL so far for Kolkata Knight Riders. Salt is likely to partner skipper Jos Buttler as the opening pair, while number three may also be booked.

Bairstow's opening partner from the New Zealand series, Will Jacks is likely to bat at number three for England with Harry Brook taking the number four slot, and the spin-bowling all-rounders Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone slated to take the number 5 and 6 spots.

So, Bairstow may get a spot in the World Cup squad, but is unlikely to be an immediate pick in the playing 11. The only other way England can accomodate Bairstow is if they decide to stretch their batting order.

If Bairstow gets a chance it may see Buttler dropping down the order, but that seems very impossible after his current form in the ongoing IPL for Rajasthan Royals, for whom he has scored 2 unbeaten hundreds in big run chases.

Bairstow can also be looked at as the number three option if England decide to drop Jacks. However, that also seems unrealistic as Jacks, who has been doing decently for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has done well whenever he has played in the format.