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After single-handedly winning the match against a well-oiled Chennai Super Kings for the Rajasthan Royals with his 95 not out, Jos Buttler has done it again, this time against defending champions Mumbai Indians, allowing the Royals to fight another day.
In today’s match Jos Buttler took responsibility from the word go and got his side to victory with an unbeaten 94. The knock happens to be Jos Buttler’s fifth consecutive half-century, equalling the record for most successive half-centuries by Virender Sehwag.
Buttler came into the England side with the reputation of being a clean striker of the ball in the team comprising Ian Bell, Alastair Cook and Joe Root, but he made a name for himself scoring 121 runs off 74 balls against Sri Lanka, where he came close to winning the game for his side.
A Test debut followed in a home series against India, and Buttler didn’t disappoint there either, scoring three consecutive half-centuries.
In 2015 England was adopting an all-guns-blazing approach from the word go, and Buttler remains the crucial cog in the line-up to finish the innings on a high with captain Eoin Morgan.
Not surprisingly, Buttler has the record for the fastest hundred by a player – off 46 balls against Pakistan, to go with his 61-ball hundred against New Zealand, 66 against Sri Lanka and 52 against England. All four fastest hundreds by an Englishmen belong to Jos.
(AFP)
With Jason Roy and Johny Bairstow at the top, Joe Root to bat through the innings and Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler to finish off the innings, be in no doubt as to what has made this team so successful.
You expect Buttler’s overdrive in the last part of the innings to add those 40 extra runs to the total, but in this year’s IPL Buttler as an opener for Rajasthan has taken up the responsibility of not just providing a good start but also finishing off the innings.
The big question to come out of it is: should Jos Buttler bat higher up the order for England as well? You expect Jos to be the MS Dhoni of England, and questions have always been asked for MS Dhoni to bat up the order, but unfortunately India doesn’t have the luxury of anyone even remotely close to Dhoni regarding his finishing abilities. England, on the other hand, has Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan and even Moeen Ali to fill the gap of the finisher.
Will Eoin Morgan give it a thought? Perhaps replacing Alex Hales with Jos Buttler at three is a viable option.
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The IPL has shown that Jos can carry his bat through the innings and take the team home. Just imagine the confidence after doing well in India in the IPL against quality bowlers such as Dwayne Bravo and Jasprit Bumrah. The unbeaten innings would have skyrocketed his confidence, and the best way to feed from the momentum will be to give the man in form as many overs as possible in the innings.
The bowlers have a tough time bowling to England’s new-look line-up in ODIs, so imagine the effect Buttler at three could have. This is surely a breakthrough season for Buttler. Taking up the role of opener, batting through the innings and finishing the job as well adds another responsibility to his batting, but to add that extra dimension to his batting and doing that successfully deserves applause as well as reward.
For England, Buttler’s newfound approach is another weapon in the batting arsenal, as he could even be shuffled up and down depending on the match situation.
The ability to bring the best out of himself in the do-or-die match shows the temperament of the man. This quality makes Jos a big-match player, and if he continues with a similar attitude, Buttler won’t just become finisher but also the top player in ODI cricket for England.
England certainly has unearthed a gem here. Now it’s up to them to fix where they want to.
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