“He has made a mockery of law of averages” - Aakash Chopra on RR opener Jos Buttler’s incredible form in IPL 2022

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has stated that Rajasthan Royals' (RR) Jos Buttler has thrown the law of average out of the window with his sensational batting performance in IPL 2022. Chopra described the English cricketer's showing with the willow as something outstanding.

Buttler, 31, has smashed 491 runs, including three hundreds, in seven matches at an average of 81.83 and a strike rate of 161.51. Following his century against the Delhi Capitals (DC), he became only the second player after Shikhar Dhawan to register consecutive hundreds in the IPL.

Buttler will be in action when RR take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Tuesday, 26 April. Speaking ahead of the match on his YouTube channel, Chopra hailed Buttler for his incredible batting and commented:

“Jos Buttler is defying logic. He has made a mockery of law of averages by smashing three hundreds in eight matches. Sometimes batters experience bad luck, getting an inside or outside edge or there could be an error of judgement. But nothing of that sort has happened with Buttler. It’s like Jos Buttler vs. the rest. He has been absolutely outstanding.”

Chopra, however, admitted that Buttler’s brilliance has dwarfed the lack of balance in the RR playing XI. The 44-year-old elaborated:

“There is a lack of balance in the Rajasthan team, which hasn't been exposed yet because Jos Buttler has been doing an incredible job. Like Punjab, even they don’t have an all-rounder. (Ravichandran) Ashwin bats at seven, so there is a lack of depth in batting. If you have them at 25 for 3, then they will get stuck.”

Apart from Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer has scored 224 runs in seven matches for RR at a strike rate of 179.20. Skipper Sanju Samson has contributed 201 runs at a strike rate of 171.79.

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“There is a lot of ability in RR’s bowling” - Aakash Chopra

Although Rajasthan conceded over 200 runs in the match against Delhi, Chopra has been impressed with RR’s overall line-up. Krishna was the star performer, returning with figures of three for 22 as Rajasthan held Delhi to 207 for eight while defending a total of 222.

Stating that they seem to have most of the bases covered, he said:

“RR’s bowling attack is working very well for them. Ashwin is economical while Chahal takes the wickets. Prasidh Krishna raised his stature in the last game by dismissing Rishabh Pant and David Warner. There is a lot of ability in RR’s bowling. Trent Boult has gone for a few in the last two games, but form is temporary. Obed McCoy had a bad game, but he shouldn't be dropped.”

Rajasthan are currently third with 10 points from seven games, just two points adrift of league leaders Gujarat Titans (GT).

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