ENG vs PAK | Feared my Test career would be over if I failed to score big, admits Jos Buttler

Having averaged under 25 with the bat for a good part of 18 months, the spotlight was well and truly on Jos Buttler when he walked in to bat on Day 4. The wicket-keeper batsman was under serious pressure when he strode to the crease, with England having already lost all their trump cards and with him having squandered multiple opportunities behind the wickets, but unphased by the situation, the 29-year-old kept his cool to play the best knock of his Test career. Buttler struck a nonchalant 75 - his highest Test score in two years - and, together with Woakes, he led the hosts to an improbable victory.

Reflecting on the knock and the game, the wicket-keeper batsman revealed that before he walked out to bat, he had thoughts that he might never play a Test again if he fails to score runs in the second dig. Buttler further admitted that he faltered behind the stumps but insisted that it’s important for players to acknowledge negative thoughts and try to let them go. 

"Thoughts go through your head that if I don't score any runs I've maybe played my last game,"  Buttler said in the press-conference post the first Test, reported Cricbuzz.

"But you have to shut those out and go and play your game. Having had some tough times I feel like my game's coming together with the bat. I'm very aware I didn't keep well, I missed some chances and at this level you can't afford to do that, no matter how many runs you score.

"It is difficult, especially in this day and age with the likes of social media. You're sat in your hotel room and don't leave the ground. But I think it's important to acknowledge those thoughts. It would be very unnatural to not be thinking those things. It's more about acknowledging them and trying to let them go and let them pass. And then let the positive thoughts you have, try and cling onto them a bit more. Show that character I feel like I've got within myself and that competitive spirit."

Buttler’s gaffes behind the stumps only added further to his woes, as he was already under considerable pressure due to his withering form with the bat, and the 29-year-old admitted that the knock on Saturday came as a ‘relief’. The flamboyant wicket-keeper batsman acknowledged that his performances have not been up to Test standards, and said that there’s no point in denying the truth, but added that it’s important for a player to sustain self-belief irrespective of form.

"At times there's been some lonely nights thinking about it. It's a feeling of relief more than enjoyment at the minute. As the wicketkeeper in this team you have to take chances and you have to keep better than I did in the first innings - I know that, I don't need other people to tell me that. I expect a lot of myself and to play international cricket there's a level required. And I have to be better - that's a stone-cold fact, there's no point trying to hide that.

"The only thing you can do to achieve that is hard work - hard work and belief, try and maintain belief. I think last summer, all the cricket we saw, Ben Stokes showed us a lot of times to never give up, great things might be just around the corner so a lot of times, personally, you've got to go to the well again - can you find the courage to put yourself back in the situation to give yourself another chance. I think you've got to work hard, try and get better. I know I have to keep wicket better."

The first Test ending on the fourth day means that both the England and Pakistan players will have an extra day off before heading to Southampton to play the second of three Tests, starting August 13.