Cricket News: The better opener- Jonny Bairstow VS Rohit Sharma
The T20 format is a distinct and way more aggressive form of cricket. Irrespective of the format, what remains crucial is how the openers of a particular team fared in a match. Having one of the openers who can score briskly is highly essential
Rohit Sharma has an impressive strike rate as an OpenerHere we will dig at the careers of two great modern openers, Rohit Sharma and Jonny Bairstow. These batsmen have been phenomenal for their respective teams with the new ball and are known for hitting the ball out of the park with ease once they are set. Jonny Bairstow has been in the form of his life for a year, and there’s no saying regarding how good Rohit is when it comes to opening. But where do these two openers stand against each other?
Performance In T20I
When it comes to the shortest format of the game, Rohit Sharma is a clear winner as the Indian skipper has four centuries in this format while Jonny Bairstow has none. Besides this, Rohit Sharma has an impressive strike rate of almost 140, which requires constant ball hitting. Jonny Bairstow is also not far behind Rohit as he has a strike rate of 135.
An average over 30 is considered reasonable in the T20 format of the game as the match is short. Rohit has this box ticked, too, while Bairstow has an average of 26.5, which is decent but slightly low compared to the Indian opener.
Performance in ODI
The comparison gets tricky as both the openers have different approaches in this game format. Rohit Sharma believes in taking his time as the game is lengthy, while Jonny Bairstow has a policy of hitting the ball from first over.
Rohit has a strike rate of 90 in this format, and on the other hand, Bairstow has a strike rate of 105, and both the openers have an average of more than 45.
As Bairstow has played less ODI than Rohit, he has achieved less in terms of numbers than Rohit Sharma, and his career seems like it has a long way to go before he could score a double century.
Three double centuries in just 50 overs of the game gives Rohit an edge over Bairstow as his highest score is 141 runs which is not even close enough to Rohit’s innings of 264 runs. Rohit is regarded as the greatest of this format, and Bairstow has to go through many hardships in his career if he wants to overtake the Indian opener.