'Don’t poke the Bear': Ian Bishop warns teams after Jonny Bairstow scores sublime century against India

When Jonny Bairstow came to the crease against India on Day 2 of the rescheduled fifth Test Match, he didn't look in pristine touch. At the end of Day 2, he finished with a cautious 12 off 47 deliveries, with England closing the day with 84-5 and trailing by 332 runs.

However, Bairstow was in superlative form on Day 3. He dispatched all Indian bowlers around the park at Edgbaston, as he scored his third century in as many Test matches in a row. The wicketkeeper-batsman was at his counterattacking best as he smashed 106 from 140 balls, scoring a mammoth 94 off the next 93 deliveries he faced on day 2. When all the other England batsmen were struggling to score runs, Bairstow looked in fine touch.

Jonny Bairstow's aggressive innings drew praises from all over the cricketing fraternity. Former West Indian pace bowler Ian Bishop in a tweet warned other teams not to poke the batsman given his current purple patch.

"Don't poke the Bear that is Jonny Bairstow again please" tweeted the former West Indian bowler. This was a cheeky tweet referring to the earlier war of words between Bairstow and Virat Kohli. The two had quite a fiery interaction on the field early on Day 3, as the umpires had to intervene to stop the fight. This somehow lit a fire in Bairstow's belly, as he smashed his way before being dismissed by Mohammad Shami on 106. The Yorkshire-born player's innings was studded with 14 fours and two sixes.

In the series against New Zealand, Jonny Bairstow scored 394 runs at a massive strike rate of 120. He cored the second fastest hundred and the second fastest fifty by an Englishman in Test history in the series. He has been the prime excample of the new counter-attacking approach opted by England after the arrival of Brendon McCullum as head coach and Ben Stokes as captain.