With innings of 26, 21, 3 and 3 in the ongoing World Cup so far, England batsman Jos Buttler has not had the best of starts in the marquee event. The 35-year-old, who has not scored a fifty in his last 15 international innings across formats, is currently England’s highest run getter in T20Is with a tally of 4003 runs in 151 matches with an average of 34.50 and a strike rate of 148.47. Buttler, who stars at the fifth spot in the leading run-scorers list in T20 format in the world, made score of three each during England last two Group matches against Scotland and Italy respectively and the hard-hitting batsman shares how his mindset is to keep playing the scoreboard amid the dip in form too.
“You’ve got to still play the game. There are times I’ve been out of form in Test cricket and the batting coach might say ‘rein it in and bat for an hour. In T20 you have got to keep playing the scoreboard.” Buttler said on his For the Love of Cricket podcast.
Buttler, who plays in T20 leagues across the world, last scored a fifty in the T20 format in the SA 20 while playing for Durban Super Giants. His knock of 97 runs came in 57 balls against Pretoria Capitals but the 35-year-old failed to get past the 30-run mark in rest of the matches in the tournament. Buttler had led England to the T20 World Cup title in 2022, a tournament which also saw Buttler and Alex Hales putting together a record 170-run opening wicket partnership, a record for any wicket in T20 World Cups. Buttler spoke about how he felt he was playing well in SA20 and prides himself on making a good contribution in the format for the team. “I felt I was playing really well in the SA20 without getting scores. One thing I always pride myself on in T20 is if you get in, go and make a good contribution,” added Buttler.
England will face co-hosts Sri Lanka in their first Super 8 match at Pallekele on Sunday before they play Pakistan and New Zealand on February 24 and February 27 respectively. Buttler’s team-mate Jacob Bethell spoke on Friday about the opener’s form sharing how the England team don’t have any doubts about Buttler’s form. “He’s (Jos Buttler) fine. The options he has taken haven’t come off but no one in that side is worried about Jos in terms of performance. He will come good when we need him in the big stages of this tournament.” said Bethell while addressing reporters.
