'Proud to be promoted to No.5' – Jonny Bairstow

England wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow has embraced the challenge of being promoted to the No.5 position and said he was proud to be asked to move up the order.

Bairstow, 28, has been batting in the lower-middle order for England in Tests – mostly at No.7 – but the inclusion of Jos Buttler, whom national selector Ed Smith has earmarked for the No.7 position in the Tests against Pakistan, meant that Bairstow moved up the order.

"I'm very proud to be asked to move up the order – it means the people in charge have got the belief in you to go out and deliver," Bairstow said.

“They are asking a little extra, they are saying, 'We want you to do this, we trust you, we believe in you,' and that's what you want within a team. You want the captain, coach and head selectors to back you.”

However, despite the inclusion of Buttler, who too is a wicket-keeper, Bairstow will retain the gloves. There has been concern in some quarters that the extra burden of wicket-keeping may hinder his batting, but Bairstow doesn't share those concerns.

"It's something I've done for Yorkshire for a while, and occasionally you are back in the middle after being in the field for a lot of overs, but you have to deal with it. That's why we do all the physical preparation," he said.

“In the past, whenever a challenge has been thrown down, I like to think I've stepped up and risen to those challenges and taken them in my stride. That's exactly what I'll be trying to do now, and I don't think moving up will affect me in any way. I know I will relish it.”

This will be the first time that both Buttler and Bairstow will feature in the same Test XI since England's tour of India in 2016-17. Bairstow felt the right-handed batsman, who has been in good form in the Indian Premier League (IPL), was a positive selection.

"You have got to keep faith with people and you have got to make difficult decisions, and that is exactly what has happened,” he said.

England's two-match series against Pakistan begins on 24 May at Lord's. Bairstow believed that the experience of playing the side in a four-Test series in 2016 would help the hosts.

“We played them not too long ago, so there will be people in their team we have played against previously," he said. "There are plans that you are going to have.”