IPL 2019 | I've really, really wanted to play IPL a number of years, says Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow perfectly filled the void caused by the departure of Shikhar Dhawan and formed one of the most formidable opening pairs in the league alongside David Warner. The duo combined to contribute 962 runs, which is a total of 71% of the runs scored by the team in this season so far. His departure for England’s Wolrd Cup camp and Pakistan series cause a huge void in SRH line-up, and it must’ve made the SRH fans unhappy. The Englishman stated that he is taking a bagful of memories with him and called it a wonderful opportunity for him to prove his worth.

"It's not difficult to motivate yourself at all. It's a competition that I've really, really wanted to play a number of years. You hear stories about people coming over and playing, and it being such a fantastic competition. The fans, how fanatical they are, the atmosphere at the ground. The whole way it's put together is brilliant. If you can't motivate yourself to get up and play in front of 30,000-40,000 people, then you're not in the right job," Bairstow told Cricinfo.

With Kane Williamson being injured at the start of the tournament and Martin Guptill having suffered jet lag, Bairstow got the first preference to open the innings alongside Warner. He instantly grabbed it with open arms and scored 445 runs at an average of 55.62.

"With the four overseas that can play in any team, and you look at the overseas that we've got within the squad, you've got four guys that are not playing currently that can be in any moment. So, no, by no means did I think I'd be starting the tournament.

"I just saw it as an opportunity to go out there and enjoy myself, and play the IPL. That was purely and simply what it was. To experience a new task, a new challenge, to be able to go out and explore the skills that I've been working on and go and play in front of a fantastic crowd in that first game at Eden Gardens."