Previous IPL stints gave me huge confidence to play consistently, says Jos Buttler
BCCI
Jos Butler has stated that the 2018 season of the Indian Premier League for Rajasthan Royals gave him the confidence to score consistently. The England batsman had scored 548 runs in that season and has continued with his tremendous run in ODIs while finding a spot in the Test team as well.
Jos Butler had played for Mumbai Indians in his first two seasons of the Indian Premier League starting from 2016. He was then picked up by Rajasthan Royals for Rs.4.40 crores in the 2018 auctions and justified his price tag by amassing 548 runs at a strike rate of 155.24 in just 13 matches. The wicket-keeper batsman reckoned that the previous season of the cash rich league made him realise the importance of consistency and he even carried that to international cricket.
"That IPL season gave me huge amounts of confidence to play in that way and ride the back of that wave for all of last summer. Realising that you can keep doing it,” he said, reported Cricbuzz.
In the past one year, Butler has notched up 681 runs at 75.77 in 20 matches with an incredible strike rate of 128 in ODIs. He has struck three hundreds in this period, including the second fastest ODI hundred for England against Pakistan on Saturday and even a 60 ball 150 against West Indies in the previous series. He shared that his inspiration for consistency comes from players like Joe Root.
“There are other guys around the world who you watch and you're very envious of. Joe Root is a great example in our own changing room of a guy who does it day in, day out. That was a big realisation for me that I should chase that more than I probably was,” expressed the 28-year-old.
"In the last few years, I've had some brilliant experiences. A couple more years older and worked things out a bit better, managing to drip feed them into my game really well. Really chase that consistency and want to perform every day. That's been a big part of the last few years to try and be more consistent. When you manage to do that a couple of times, it breeds the confidence that you can do it for an elongated period of time,” he added.
The record of fastest hundred for an English batsman in 46 balls is also held by the Somerset born batsman. He did not show a glimpse of doubt when asked if anyone will break the record for the fastest hundred from an England batsman.
"Absolutely. Definitely. We've seen other guys around the world show it's possible." the World Cup bound player signed off.
