"It’s a miracle he has not returned to England citing burnout issues" - Fans troll Bairstow for scoring 15 runs in PBKS vs RR IPL 2024 match

Punjab Kings (PBKS) opening batter Jonny Bairstow's miserable 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign continued with yet another poor knock against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Mullanpur on Saturday. The Englishman departed for just 15 runs off 19 deliveries to extend his tally to 96 runs from six matches.

Bairstow has failed to reach double figures in three of the six matches so far. With Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh not firing as well, PBKS have the weakest top order in the tournament. Bairstow missed the entirety of the last season due to injury and has struggled across all formats in the recent past.

The right-handed batter struggled throughout his stay at the crease. With wickets falling from the other end, Jonny Bairstow had to do something rather than just survive. He scored a boundary off Trent Boult at the start of his innings, but could not do anything noteworthy for the remaining part.

He tried to drive Keshav Maharaj in the eighth over, but with the ball spinning and holding onto the pitch a bit, he could only loop it to Shimron Hetmyer at cover.

Fans were fuming over Bairstow's poor knock, labeling him as finished. Here are some of the reactions on Twitter:

"Save us from the misery of watching him bat," one user wrote.

"Man should nowhere be near IPL next season," another user remarked.

"It’s a miracle he has not returned to England citing burnout issues," one tweet read.

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RR well on top after decimating PBKS' top order including Bairstow

RR have had a stranglehold on the contest right from the get-go. Punjab could only score 38 runs in the powerplay while losing a wicket during the phase. Their fortunes did not change in the middle overs as Rajasthan went for the kill.

PBKS could on handle the spin onslaught and collapsed from 41/1 to 70/5 in no time. After Bairstow's departure, Punjab's middle order provided little resistance as stand-in captain Sam Curran and Shashank Singh walked back to the pavilion after scoring six and nine runs, respectively.