England needed a ‘pick me up’ from skipper Jos Buttler despite reaching the semi final of the T20 World Cup for the third tournament in a row without performing at their best.
Buttler admitted his team were left down and disappointed following their win over Sri Lanka in Sydney that booked their place in the last four. Far from a celebratory mood in the Sydney Cricket Ground dressing rooms, the vibe was flat and the skipper decided he had to act.
“I could see there was so much disappointment in the room even though we had won the match,” said Buttler. “We know we can play better.
“Given how we were feeling after the Ireland game, to be heading to the semi-final of a World Cup, to get out of a tough group stage, I was proud of that. We only had to win the game on that day so I wanted to lift them up a bit.”
In his interview with the Times, Buttler goes on to reveal the stresses and strains that come with being an international captain and how much he is enjoying them. He has his family with him on this trip which helps to take his mind off the game at times, but with his and everybody else’s performances to worry about his focus shifts quickly back to a job he is clearly improving at.
Just like Eoin Morgan before him, there is a strong instinctive streak to his captaincy that he is not afraid to listen to, for example when he decided to open the bowling against New Zealand with Moeen Ali because the conditions he experienced as a batter informed his decision rather than the numbers on a laptop.
Buttler has bundles of experience to call on in his latest role, not least because of his experience in the IPL where he has become a league superstar. And he is ready to use what he has learnt alongside and against the finest Indian players to England’s advantage when they all meet on Thursday in Adelaide.
“They are a brilliant team and Rohit Sharma is a brilliant captain who I think has asked them to play more positively and with more freedom,” added Buttler, who played two season for the Mumbai Indians under Sharma.
“I was a bit young in my IPL journey, but tactically I thought he was very good, making good decisions but not always the obvious ones. He has that sense of calm when everything around him is going on at a million miles an hour. A bit like when he bats, he makes it look pretty effortless.”
And what about his current Rajasthan Royals teammate Ravichandran Ashwin who once ‘Mankaded’ him for backing up too far in 2019?
“We all have different views on that mode of dismissal,” said Buttler. “But it is certainly something he sees very much as fair game. So we’ve got to make sure we don’t get out like that and it’s the batters’ responsibility. It can’t happen if we’re in the crease. Obviously, he’s a fantastic player, skilful, really inquisitive guy, fierce competitor and a deep thinker about the game.”
