As India and England clashed in the third of a five-Test series at the historic Lord's Cricket Ground, something special occurred before a ball was delivered. While cricket enthusiasts were looking forward to the high-profile match, they were also gifted a heartwarming moment with one of England's most seasoned players, Jonny Bairstow. Before the match started at the Home of Cricket, Bairstow was celebrated in front of his relatives and Lord's audience. Most people were wondering why the wicketkeeper-batter, who has not played international cricket since 2024, was being honored at this time. Why? The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) awarded him the Silver Cap to mark an important milestone, reaching 100 Test matches played for England. Watch the video here: So good to have Jonny Bairstow with us at Lord's this morning to receive his 100th cap 🧢Congratulations, @JBairstow21 🤝 pic.twitter.com/8FqbFV6ZaY — England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 10, 2025 Also Read | Watch: Zak Crawley Falls Flat Trying to Run Two at Lord’s A Special Tribute After a Long Wait Bairstow had achieved the 100-Test milestone during England's tour of India in 2024, when he had played his milestone game at Dharamsala. But after that, he has not appeared in any format for the national team. The time to rightfully reward him had never arrived until now. At Lord's, where cricket great Sachin Tendulkar sounded the iconic bell and there were thousands of fans present, Bairstow finally had his moment. He became the 17th English cricketer to reach the 100-Test milestone. Similar to Graham Thorpe and Andrew Strauss, Bairstow played 100 Tests exactly. Former English pacer James Anderson has played the most number of Tests for England. The right-arm fast bowling stalwart has 188 games to his name in this format. Bairstow has scored 6,042 Test runs with 12 hundreds and 26 half-centuries, but his form suffered in 2024. He was unable to register a fifty in his previous Test series and was replaced by Jamie Smith, who impressed both behind the wickets and with the bat. Since then, Bairstow has been away from the international stage, even missing out on England’s white-ball squads. His last international appearance was in the 2024 T20 World Cup semifinal against India. Even with the difficult period, Bairstow remains active in domestic cricket and was a member of the Mumbai Indians team in the IPL 2025 playoffs. Whether he makes a comeback to international cricket or not, the Lord's testimonial was a proper tribute to a player who had offered well over a decade of service to English cricket.