IPL stint helps Jos Buttler get his groove back in Test cricket

While Test cricket continues to try and hold its own against the growing flames and blink-and-you-miss T20 cricket, it is always fun watching a batsman employ his pinch-hitting trade with the red cherry. The trend was, perhaps, first started by Adam Gilchrist for the Australian Test team, some players continue to carry the baton in the longest format, one of them being England’s Jos Buttler.

On Friday, Buttler’s breezy innings of 76 helped England attain a respectable target of 400 in the first innings, and give the bowlers enough leeway to ask the Indian batsmen a few questions.

However, Buttler didn’t always enjoy batting in the longest format, having had endured a torrid stretch in the whites last year. When he was dropped from the Test side, he actually felt “relieved” that he was not a part.

He went back to the drawing board, although he didn’t really take part in a lot of first-class matches. The Mumbai Test is just his fifth since October 2015. He was dropped from the Test squad against Pakistan in the UAE last year, although he continued to grow from strength to strength as a limited-overs player.Now that he has been relieved of his wicketkeeping duties, he can concentrate more on his batting, and carve a niche for himself in the team.

Surprisingly (or not), a stint with the Mumbai Indians helped a long way in getting confidence to bat on wickets here. While the English players are rarely seen playing in the IPL, Buttler, along with Sam Billings, made it to the auctions this year, and was signed up by the Mumbai-based franchise.

“It probably helps, having practised and played here. Having experienced IPL, you get used to the noise and chaos going on around you. You learn to deal with it and not get distracted. I think familiarity is good and definitely helps," he said at the end of the second day’s play in Mumbai.

In 14 matches, he scored 255 runs for the franchise, remaining unbeaten three times. Although he didn’t score a single fifty, his quickfire knocks at the fag end of the innings helped his side get the final push.

Apart from the brief IPL stint, a break from the rigours of the game helped Buttler breathe easy and get his rhythm back.

“We play so much cricket that sometimes there isn’t enough time to think, break down your game and (work out) what is vital to me to get the best out of myself. I feel like the last year I’ve probably learned the most about myself and about cricket in my whole career.”

It remains to be seen whether the Somerset-born 26-year-old can be a regular in the Test side, but his gutsy knock in the first innings at Mumbai has helped him stake a claim over the likes of Gary Ballance and Ben Duckett.

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