Don’t think there are too many that bat like Jos Buttler: Mitchell Starc
Australian pacer Mitchell Starc was full of praise of Jos Buttler after the 2nd T20I between England and Australia, in which the batter-keeper struck an unbeaten 77 to guide England to a 2-0 series win.
Commending Buttler’s ability to create shots, exploit the plans of the opposition, and provide the finishing touch, the left-arm seamer said, “He’s obviously been damaging for them in the first game and again today and got them home with the bat. We would have liked to have got him out in the powerplay, so it’s something the bowlers will have to chat about.
“Our batters are going to have their own plans and play their own way. I don’t think there are too many that bat exactly like Jos. He’s someone who moves around the crease a lot, so does Smithy I guess.
“In terms of an opener batting through and being quite destructive through the powerplay, then getting the team home, like he did today, that’s probably what you want your opening batters to do I guess,” he added.
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Starc then went on to talk about the reason behind the shortcomings of his side throughout the T20I series. Citing the 5-month break from International Cricket as the main issue, Starc said, “I don’t think no crowds are an issue. Coming off 5 months of no cricket probably doesn’t help. It’s not an excuse – we’ve had plenty of preparation here. I think there was still plenty of good stuff with bat and ball, we were just that little bit off, which I think you get from playing cricket.
“You can’t really simulate international matches just by having net sessions or center wickets. And T20 cricket is such a short game, I think those little moments that we’ve let slip in games 1 and 2, have obviously cost us in the long run.
“I have felt that execution was slightly off the game. I felt pretty good today. Probably only 1 or 2 balls that I didn’t execute the way I wanted to. So it hasn’t taken a whole heap. I’ve been bowling for 3 and a half – close to 4 months now anyway. It’s just that match intensity.
“International cricket is always going to be a step up from having center wickets as we have done for the last week. And net sessions that were all we had back home, in small groups. So slightly different to England have played 6 T20s already in the last couple of months.”
Buttler, aided by Moeen Ali, took England out of a slightly tense position and helped them win the game with 7 balls to spare
Buttler’s knock has been lauded by the pundits and his teammates as well. The man himself talked about his position in the batting order after the game, saying, “It probably is my favorite position to bat in T20 cricket. I’ve had most of my success in T20 at the top, but that’s natural – if you bat in the top three in T20, it’s the best place for everyone.
Buttler went on to talk about the depth of top-order batsmen in the squad, also clarifying that he is open to bat anywhere the team requires him to. He said, “We’ve probably got eight or nine guys who’d stick their hand up to bat in the top three; I’m very happy there, but I’m also very happy to do whatever the team needs of me.
“I’ve played a lot of my career – T20 and one-day cricket – batting in the middle, so I’m very comfortable doing that as well. It’s really for the coach and captain to decide. We’ve got lots of strength in depth; it’s something that is the mark of good teams, good players fighting over positions and that will serve us well going forward.”
Speaking about his knock off 77*, Buttler said, “It was a great feeling to be able to walk off at the end, having won the game for your team – obviously a big game for us, with the chance to win the series, which we were determined to do.
“Once I came through the powerplay – it was one of those wickets where you felt like you needed a few balls to get used to the pace of it – and then the game was set up like a one-day chase. Irrelevant to me opening, I just saw it as if I was coming in in the middle-order of a one-day game, the equation of trying to chase those runs down.”
ALSO READ: Felt like I owed the team: Jos Buttler
Buttler’s Test match Cricket teammate Stuart Broad had high praise for the batter-keeper as well. Retweeting former England middle-order batsman Neil Fairbrother’s tweet, Broad wrote, “England’s best-ever white ball Cricketer does it again.”
England’s best ever white ball cricketer does it again.
@josbuttler
https://t.co/jMGW8HXApS
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) September 6, 2020
Shane Warne, former iconic Australian leg-spinner and Buttler’s mentor at Rajasthan Royals, stated that there were no weaknesses to Buttler’s batting. He was quoted as saying, “Yes, he can bat down the order and finish games – there’s a few players that can do that – but there’s not many players that can do this, win the game from the top. It’s the perception of what he could do that upsets the bowlers. If you’re a bowler standing at the top of the mark, you’re thinking, what is he going to do?
“The key to his batting is the way he hits the ball, he hits it all around the ground. There’s no particular weakness to his batting, and when you don’t have a weakness, it’s hard to come up with a plan to bowl to him. When he starts moving around his crease, he’s got all the shots, the ramps, down the ground, good cricket shots and when you drop it short, he goes ‘whack’. He’s a 360 (degree) player.
“I thought his batting was fantastic. You thought the spinners were going to be the key in the middle overs, but they just couldn’t get that done – that was due to Buttler’s brilliance. It was outstanding batting; that’s why he’s one of the best players in this form of the game.”