IPL 2021: Jos Buttler says his 64-ball 124 against SRH was not his best T20 knock

Jos Buttler feels his 124-run knock against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2021 was not his best T20 innings. Although Buttler recorded his highest T20 score that day in Delhi, he opined it was not his most fluent performance.

Opening the innings for the Rajasthan Royals, Jos Buttler blasted 124 runs off 64 deliveries, hitting 11 fours and eight sixes to take his team to 220/3 in 20 overs. While the Englishman is one of the top T20 batters globally, he had never touched the three-figure mark in the shortest format before IPL 2021.

In a virtual interaction arranged by RR, Jos Buttler spoke at length about his maiden T20 hundred.

"It was obviously a great day for me and really nice to score my highest score and get back into some form. But is it the best I have ever played? I would probably say no. I don't think it is. I think at the start of the innings I was still struggling to time the ball and it certainly wasn't the best I've ever felt in the middle or the most fluent I've ever felt," said Jos Buttler.

Jos Buttler admitted he struggled to middle the ball in the initial phases of the innings. The RR opener took 39 deliveries to complete his half-century, but he raced to his hundred in the next 17 balls.

Jos Buttler picks his best T20 innings

Jos Buttler in action during IPL 2021 (Image Courtesy: IPLT20.com)

Jos Buttler believes the shorter boundaries in Delhi and the fantastic partnership with Sanju Samson allowed him to switch gears comfortably against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. But he did not rate it as his best performance.

The Englishman's view was that his best T20 knock came against the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2018. Buttler played an unbeaten knock of 94 runs versus his former franchise at Wankhede Stadium in 2018 to guide the Royals to a 7-wicket win. He smashed nine fours and five maximums to help RR chase a 171-run target that night.

"I look back to the game at the Wankhede Stadium against the Mumbai Indians in 2018. It's probably the best T20 innings I have ever played," Buttler concluded.