Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler leaves a distinct mark on the team he plays with and he has earned a distinguished reputation for himself. Buttler came into the limelight on the back of his abilities to hit big sixes along with his unorthodox style of batting but over the years, developed his game to play according to situations. 

He has established himself as one of the building blocks of the current explosive English batting lineup. Buttler has been phenomenal against all teams, all conditions, and in all situations. He is a batsman of MS Dhoni’s mould who keeps it under control even when the pressure during the game notch up to the highest possible points.

Buttler made his first steps in domestic cricket while playing for Somerset in 2009. He made his first-class debut against Lancashire after replacing Justin Langer in the County Championship. Jos Buttler’s first century in his first-class career came in his fourth County Championship match. He compiled a brilliant 144-run knock. The following game saw him scoring his first half-century in List A against Sussex.

Ahead of the T20 series against India in 2011, Jos Buttler earned his first call-up in the England team in September 2011. On August 31, 2011, Buttler made his T20I debut against India. Next year in February, Buttler played his first one-day international against Pakistan in February 2012.

Consistent performance in the limited-over format meant Buttler cemented his place as the first-choice wicket-keeper in the squad. He was included in the 2013 Champions Trophy in England and played every match of the tournament. His performances in 2013 helped him earn his name in the T20 XI by Cricinfo.

With Matt Prior getting injured in the Test series against India on July 22, 2014, Buttler was called up for the England squad for the third Test. In his debut Test innings, the batter impressed everyone with 85 runs knock off 83 balls.

In the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, Jos Buttler started the tournament on a great note but England unfortunately, exited early from the tournament, failing to go into the league stage games. Buttler scored an unbeaten knock of 39 runs off 19 balls against Sri Lanka. It was followed by a well compiled 65 run knock against Bangladesh but of no use in the end.

Mumbai Indians spotted Buttler’s potential before the IPL 2016 and made a bid of INR 1.6 crores for him where he played until IPL 2017. A franchise full of star players, MI could not make the most of his talents as he ended up batting with fewer overs left and finished the 2016 season scoring 255 runs from 14 innings. Another middling season in 2017, followed by his move to the Rajasthan Royals which unlocked his potential. He was made to open and he unleashed onslaughts with impeccable consistencies piling up 548 runs from 13 innings in the IPL 2018. In the next season, he was more dominating and by the time he left to join the England team for the preparations of the World Cup last year, he had piled on 311 runs from only 8 IPL matches.

When England was tottering after the loss of some crucial wickets early on in the finals of the ICC World Cup 2019, Buttler forged a partnership with Ben Stokes and kept chipping away at the runs without breaking any sweat. It was only his wicket that tilted the balance in New Zealand otherwise the match for once looked out of the Kiwis’ hands.

Buttler’s career-saving moment came in July 2020 when he was named in England’s squad for the Test series against West Indies. He was England's stand out batsman of the summer, averaging 52 whilst notching up 2 half-centuries, and a series-winning 75 in the fourth innings at Old Trafford to save them from certain defeat. After an impressive show in the longer formats, Buttler was named as the vice-captain of the English side while Ben Stokes was rested. He made scores of 30, 55, and 46 not out as England won the series 2-0. Initially named in the squad of England tour of India, Buttler was sent back home after the first Test. A day later, it was announced that he has been retained by the Rajasthan Royals for the 2021 edition of IPL.

A prolific run-scorer and an effortless timer of the white-ball, Buttler is a global T20 superstar and one of the key openers for Rajasthan Royals. His batting style suits the Royals squad as his ability to recognise and manipulate field placements of opposing teams and score all around the ground has seen him labelled as one of the lethal batsmen of this generation.

(As of March 2021)