Kevin Pietersen pioneer in English cricketers playing IPL, asserts Jos Buttler

Kevin Pietersen’s involvement in the Indian Premier League drew a fascinating story in the English cricket, with a lot of stakeholders having a fall-out with the maverick cricketer. However, with change in mindset in the subsequent years, the English players flocked to the competition with utmost regularity and Jos Buttler, a real beneficiary of the league, credited the former English skipper for the same.

"English cricket has got quite an interesting history with the IPL. The documentary about Kevin Pietersen and how he wanted to get involved and the roadblocks he faced. He really paved the way for a lot of us to go and now play in the IPL with more blessing from English cricket. He is a pioneer in building the steps in place to realise just how important the IPL is for developing cricketers," Buttler said in a BBC podcast named 'The Doosra'.

"There's no doubt that it (IPL) has helped English cricket grow and the numbers of players who were involved in the last few years. It was something I was desperate to play. For me it's the best tournament in the world, taking out the World Cups," the 29-year old added.

In the past few years, Buttler has been associated with Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals and has played some magnificent knocks as well. That allowed him to break his game to a new level and he became one of the major architects in England’s dynamic approach to 50-over cricket that culminated with them winning the World Cup last year. Buttler stated that the teams in IPL are sometimes a dream team and that the tournament cannot be compared with any other league.

"As a kid growing up that is what you want to play -- fantasy cricket. Mix all the teams together what it will be like if Kohli and de Villiers play together. Some of the match-ups you get to see in the IPL are great. Bangalore has been amongst the top three teams with (Virat) Kohli, AB (de Villiers) and (Chris) Gayle coming up and then to see them up against a (Jasprit) Bumrah or a Dale Steyn or (Lasith) Malinga," he said.