India vs England | Not fussed about being the wicketkeeper, says Jos Buttler

After fracturing a finger in the third Test, Jonny Bairstow had been cleared to play in the fourth, but only as a specialist batsman and not as a wicketkeeper. Jos Buttler donned the gloves in the third Test after Bairstow was forced to leave the field when a ball caught him painfully and fractured his finger. There have been speculations about a stint of rivalry between the two teammates over the role of the first choice wicketkeeper. Even though Bairstow has stated that he is keen to get back to the role, Jos Buttler has cleared every misunderstanding by saying that there is no bad blood between them. 

“Not at all from my angle, and not from Jonny's either. It's not been a problem at all. Obviously Jonny's not fit to keep wicket in this match, which is frustrating for him because he's been fantastic for the last few years. Whatever happens moving forward, it doesn't affect me or Jonny” Buttler said.

In fact, Buttler mentioned that he is fortunate enough to have been playing in the Test side for his country, no matter as a batsman or a wicketkeeper.

“I'm not fussed. From a few months ago, to even be in the Test match side is fantastic - so gloves on or not, it doesn't matter,” he said. 

England were 122 for 5 when Buttler joined Ben Stokes at the crease and, while Sam Curran impressed once more with his fearless brand of batting, it was the Buttler-Stokes partnership that righted the ship after Joe Root was run out for the second time in the series.

“We've batted together in quite a lot of situations in different formats, so that rapport is obviously comforting in a way and allows you to get the best out of each other. We've got that right, left-hand combination, trying to rotate the strike and not let bowlers settle. We just went about it the same way ... trying to extend the partnership, and slowly and steadily building the lead,” Buttler said of a player who has been a regular team-mate in white-ball cricket for England and, latterly, for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL too. 

With a lead of 233 runs and two wickets in hand, Buttler feels that England might be able to succumb team India but at the same time, he mentions that they won't underestimate players like Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara who might just turn the game in India's favour. He also believes that Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid shall perform to the best of their abilities to stop them. 

“You've seen the wear and tear in the wicket - even in the first innings as well, there was quite a bit of rough outside the right-hander's off-stump. That's promising for Moeen and Adil - and with the seamers, we've seen a bit of variable bounce. So I think it's nice to have the runs on the board,” Buttler concluded.