Rajat Patidar and Glenn Maxwell were attacking the bowlers at 107-2 in 13 overs. Royal Challengers Bangalore were well placed to attack in the death overs and it looked like Rajasthan Royals would be facing a score somewhere in the range of 180-200.
On the spongy, bouncy wicket of Motera, it looked to be a par score. It was a sticky track, where the ball was bouncing at speed, especially when it was new. But as soon as you picked up the pace, the batsmen struggled to get their timing right. It was in particular that Bangalore crashed at 157-8.
With a target of more than 180, the responsibility of scoring more runs for Rajasthan would have been on Jos Buttler. When Patidar/Maxwell were hitting the ball, it was felt that a Butler-special might be needed. Of course, if you have an Orange Cap holder in the batting order, you want him to come out well. He did so with a 150-odd target, too, and in some style, an epitome of Butler’s destructive potential. Scored 106, out of the required 158 – this was the only demolition from Butler’s side and there was no response from Bangalore.
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Buttler’s statistics this season are astonishing – 824 runs in 16 matches, strike rate of 151.47, average 60.57, four centuries and four half-centuries. He will not surpass Virat Kohli’s 973-run mark, but may be second on that ‘most runs in a season’ list. And this one is remarkable – only seven batsmen have ever crossed the 700-mark. IPL weather.
Only a handful of batsmen have had consistent run-accumulation season after season. For example, David Warner has scored over 600 runs three times, including the current second highest score of 848 runs (2016). Chris Gayle also has three such scores, twice over 700 (733 in 2012 and 708 in 2013) and once again over 600 (608 in 2011).
This is such a rare list that Kohli has scored only over 600 runs (634 in 2013) apart from setting his own record in 2016. This puts Buttler’s amazing season in context – he is at the top of his game, and tops the feeding charts in T20 cricket. If you are a bowler playing your game in franchise cricket, Butler is the last batsman you want to face.
So, what makes Butler so dangerous? He is nothing like Gayle, who threw his bat at anything. He is not even an accumulator like Kohli. Perhaps, Buttler belongs to Warner’s school of T20 batting, in which he likes to play with two different gears. He can break it with the first ball, or he can build up his innings and then shift through gears before tee-off in later stages. In this, arguably, he is even better than Warner, as his tendency to club the ball in different parts of the field is what stands out. Warner is more of a power hitter, while Buttler simply caresses the ball while taking it into the stands.
Here, consider KL Rahul. He has crossed 600 four times in the last five IPL seasons, and in that fifth occasion (2019), he scored 593 runs. It is a surprising continuation of the Indian opener, who is currently Buttler’s closest contender for the race for best T20 batsman. And yet, Rahul fails in one aspect in which Butler (or even Warner) succeeds – deliberate acceleration.
It is easy enough for an opener to get into hitting mode quickly. The ball is new and tough, the pitch is fresh and the powerplay overs help clear the area with aerial effort. Buttler is a master of this strategy, but the longevity of his destructive ability is what makes him an exceptional T20 batsman. Butler knows when to back down before powering through the gears, and this trait makes him almost invaluable to any T20 side.
Let’s rewind the 2021 T20 World in UAE. Buttler was in fine hitting form there as well, but he made a comeback on a tough pitch against Sri Lanka. England were down 35-3 in 5.2 overs, and Buttler scored 50 off 46 balls to help revive the innings. By that time it had been 14 overs and Eoin Morgan had joined them. Then the gloves came off – Butler faced the next 21 balls and scored 51 runs. His strike-rate suddenly jumped from a staggering 108.69 to 242.85 as England scored 80 runs in the last six overs.
This incident can be called Buttler’s quintessential clutch innings, and in T20 cricket, he has mostly perfected the art. Go back to April 22, when Buttler scored his third century of the season against Delhi Capitals. He started off slow, scoring 11 off 14 balls and then 50 off 36 balls. Next 50 runs came faster – 21 balls. see the pattern? Whoever is bowling, whether it is on the two-paced Sharjah pitch or the quiet Wankhede pitch, Butler can accelerate at will.
What is even more surprising is how Buttler has taken this clutch-innings phenomenon to the next level in this 2022 IPL. For one, it’s easier to play this innings when you’re in good form and when you know you can make up for lost time. Like the UAE, Butler was in good shape in the early part of this tournament. And so those clutch knocks became easy, almost second nature to him.
However, in the five matches before Qualifier 1 against Gujarat Titans, Butler had scored only 63 runs in five matches. Forget Qualifier 2, he was in first hit form in that game. Take a sample of it. At the halfway point against Gujarat, Buttler was only able to score 23 runs off 25 balls, and then he went on to score 52 runs off 57 off the latter 27 balls, scoring 80 runs. This is a strike rate of 211.11.
And he only carried it against Bangalore – first 24 off 14 balls, then 82 off 46 balls at 178.26. This time the pace intensified, as if Bangalore finished with kindness – the hallmark of a batsman’s return to hitting form. This gave the Titans notice in time for Sunday’s summit – Butler is coming for them!
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