Jonny Bairstow did not think he would open for England at World Cup back in 2017

Bairstow was first drafted into the side for the Champions Trophy semi-final against Pakistan two years ago in place of Jason Roy

Jonny Bairstow didn’t believe he would be opening the innings for England in a World Cup when he was first given the opportunity to do so.

The 29-year-old has made seven ODI centuries since being moved up the order, the latest of which came through a blistering 128 at Bristol against Pakistan earlier this month.

But Bairstow, who was drafted in for the first time to open to replace Jason Roy at the top of the order for the Champions Trophy semi-final against Pakistan in 2017, did not expect to be opening up in a home World Cup.

"I was pretty open-minded about it (opening the innings)," Bairstow said.

"You have got a choice of going away and grafting hard or sitting on your laurels. Did I think I would be opening? Probably not, but the opportunity arose at the top of the order and that is what you try and do and it was a learning curve at the start of it and something that I really enjoy doing.

"People questioned whether it was right or wrong at the start but I saw it as another challenge to get my teeth stuck into and something to really relish.

^{Bairstow's partnership with Jason Roy will continue into the World Cup}

"If I hadn’t seized that opportunity at the end of the Champions Trophy then we might be in a completely different situation right now.

"I guess it is a good trait to have, because when opportunities come around you liked to think that you take them, or you take them enough to at least ask questions."

Bairstow hit an incredible 139 last summer against Australia in England’s world-record score of 481, but like teammate Mark Wood believes a total of 500 is just around the corner in the game.

"No, (batting has not reached its limit in one-day cricket). I think it is amazing where it is going, and I don’t know how far it is going to go. But we have seen, whether it be T20 cricket or T10 cricket in Dubai, where people have scored 175 off 10 overs and have got 95 off four overs, that it has not reached its limit.

VISIT OUR WORLD CUP PORTAL: Your one-stop shop for the summer spectacular

"There is going to be someone that scores 500 at some point and there is going to be one batter that goes out and gets 250 off 150 balls. You don’t know where it is going to go.

"AB (de Villiers) set the standard a couple of years ago with his magnificent striking, but now we have got guys that have scored a hundred in 40 or 50 balls.

"By scoring at those kind of strike rates you are making an impact on games."

^{Bairstow has scored seven ODI centuries for England}

The Yorkshire wicketkeeper-batsman has certainly made an impact on a number of games with Jason Roy at the top of the order, but acknowledges that they must not lose focus as the World Cup approaches.

“I am pleased with how I am playing on both sides of the wicket.

"It is good and exciting that you are able to hopefully try and counteract other people’s plans, especially leading into such a big tournament.

"You want it (the partnership with Roy) to keep getting better, you want to keep going up and the next six weeks is where we need it to be ramping up all the way through because if we have plateaued now then that is not the ideal thing for us as group of players and not going to be ideal thing for both of us.

"Hopefully that can keep going in the right direction for a long, long time because we are happy batting together at the top of the order and going out and scoring runs at a good rate is putting ourselves in a strong position for people coming in down the order."