Jos Buttler has set the Indian Ocean on fire with a string of centuries in the ongoing IPL 2022. The league, given a rocking start by Brendon McCullum (now head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders) who scored a breathtaking 158 not out against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, has come a long way after its trailblazing start fifteen years ago. Some illustrious names of the sport have dominated the league and Buttler is on the cusp of joining this elite group of batters and bowlers who were the great game changers.
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Turning out for the Jaipur franchise’s Rajasthan Royals that cost its owners virtually half of what it cost high profile franchises (Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore) owned by the Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and Vijay Mallya’s United Spirits Limited some 15 years ago, the 31- year-old from England has rekindled interest among the `Halla Bol’ fans who have not seen a home match in the Pink City’s Sawai Man Singh Stadium for the last three years, mostly because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Considered initially something short of a miracle to score a hundred in a 120-ball game, Buttler has cut to size the bowlers – fast bowlers, seamers, and spinners alike — of the Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Stadium, Kolkata Knight Riders at the Cricket Club of India’s Brabourne Stadium and the Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium in the searing heat of March and April. Buttler scored 100 off 68 balls (11 v 4s, 5 x 6s) against Rohit Sharma’s five-time winner Mumbai, 103 off 61 balls (9 x 5s, 5 x 6s) against the two-time winner Kolkata Knight Riders and 116 off 65 balls (9 x 4s, 9 x 6s) against the Rishabh Pant led Delhi Capitals.
In all Buttler has raced to 491 runs off 304 balls in seven matches. The Royals won all the three matches and has positioned itself for a playoffs berth winning five of the seven it has played. It would be an understatement to say that Butter has been in good nick this IPL season; his scores of 35, 100, 70 not out, 13, 54,103 and 116 exemplifies his contribution to the team score and to the extent he has maximized his potential in the first 6-over power play and extending his form to the middle and end overs . He has played the conventional and copybook strokes, hit the ball hard and long of any length and converted the innovative shots that find its way in the arc between third man and fine leg.
A dismal display with the bat in the last Ashes in Australia (when England lost 0-4) and a finger injury (that did not see him in action in the last Test at Hobart, Tasmania) resulted in him being omitted by the England selectors for the tour of the West Indies. As a result, the Rajasthan Royals — which had retained him before the mega auction in Bengaluru — benefitted with his availability for the IPL-15 right from the preparatory stage onwards.
Buttler is known for executing white-ball carnage, and playing for the Royals the fifth season (from 2018) — he played for the Mumbai Indians in 2016 and 2017 — the Englishman has lit the flame for a bright start to his team’s campaign in a league played at four excellent venues in the State of Maharashtra (three in Mumbai and one in Pune).
Buttler got an opportunity to bat in 24 innings for Mumbai (ten times as an opener, at No 4, five times, at No. 5, eight times, and at No. 6, once. He scored 527 runs in two seasons at 25.10 , not an average that he was happy about. He scored at an average of 8.76 for Mumbai.
The run flow from his bat began to improve once he was picked by the Jaipur franchise whose key man then was Shane Warne. He has opened the innings for the Royals on 38 occasions out of 45 and at No. 3, five times, and his proficiency against the new ball became evident. He has scored 1899 runs as an opener (for MI and RR) and four centuries in his last eight innings (all for RR); he had finished the last season with a 124 against the Sunrisers at the Kotla in New Delhi. He did not figure in the second phase of the IPL-14 that was completed in the United Arab Emirates.
In terrific form in the last one month, Buttler is all set to surpass his previous best of 548 in 13 matches of the 2018 season. He has always been productive for the Royals; he made 311 in eight matches in 2018, 328 in 12 matches in 2019, 254 in seven matches in 2021. His overall average in the league is 38.74 and at a strike rate of 8.99, and as an opener, his average is 46 plus which places him among the top five in the league for players who have featured in 50 or more matches.
This season Buttler has dealt with defiance and aggression the expert operators of the new ball and the old ball like the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Umran Malik and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mumbai Indians’ Jasprit Bumrah, Daniel Sams, Lucknow Super Giants’ Dushmantha Chameera and Jason Holder, Royal Challengers’ Mohammed Siraj and Harshal Patel, Gujarat Titans’ Mohammad Shami, Lockie Fergusson and Rashid Khan, and Kolkata Knight Riders’ Umesh Yadav, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy and the Delhi Capitals’ Mustafizur Rehman and Kuldeep Yadav. He has been bold, brave and confident and the outcome has been remarkable for a team led by the young Indian Sanju Samson, who himself has played a handful of good knocks at No. 3.
Buttler has scored a century in each of the three venues in Mumbai; and clearly his 116 against Delhi at the Wankhede, after being beaten a few times by left arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed in the first over, would get better marks. He hit nine fours and as many sixes. In all he has hit 32 x 6s and 41 x 4s thos season which is around 44 per cent of the runs (491) he has scored in seven matches.
Buttler, the man of the match after the win against the Capitals, said: “It was really special, I really enjoyed it. I love this stadium. My first IPL was here with Mumbai Indians. It’s a fantastic atmosphere and I really loved it. I’m really enjoying some of the best form of my life and trying to work out why, bottle it up and continue that form. It’s great to be at the top at the halfway stage of the tournament, and we need to continue the form all the way through.”
Touching upon his electrifying innings of 116, he said: “The ball swung in the first over. I found that really tricky and didn’t feel in good touch at that point. You just try to soak up that pressure and try and come through it, keep believing that one ball will set you on your way and can get going. Once I got to that point, the confidence came back. We managed to build a good partnership. Devdutt (Padikkal) played fantastically well at the other end. Being no wickets down with eight overs gone, it felt like the right time to attack and put the pressure back on Delhi.”
Buttler will have a lot more chances to wield his flashing blade. With him on top of his form, Rajasthan Royals appears well on its way to the playoffs.
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