At the start of their match against Chennai Super Kings on Monday, Rajasthan Royals were at the bottom of the Indian Premier League points table. While there were several reasons for their string of defeats up until then, a major factor in their downfall was the lack of firepower in their batting.
After wins in their first two games thanks largely to Sanju Samson and Rahul Tewatia’s heroics, Rajasthan struggled to find the right combination in their batting order. Skipper Steve Smith lost his touch and Samson reverted to type by failing to sustain the momentum he’d built.
But what was, perhaps, hurting Rajasthan the most was the indifferent form of arguably their biggest match-winner: Jos Buttler. The star right-hander showed what he was capable of when he scored 70 in a losing cause against Mumbai Indians, but he was struggling to make a real mark for the Royals.
Buttler, who played a significant role in England’s ODI World Cup triumph last year, is one of the finest white-ball batsmen of this generation. He is a key pillar in the RR setup but he simply didn’t do enough in the first half of this IPL season.
One would expect him to win matches single-handedly for his team, as AB de Villiers does for Royal Challengers Bangalore, but a combination of poor shots and bad luck meant Buttler was just another name on the scorecards.
However, against CSK in Abu Dhabi, the Buttler we’ve come to be familiar with finally showed up. And just like ABD did against Kolkata Knight Riders recently, he showed his class as a batsman to make the others look pale in comparison.
The 30-year-old was at his sublime best in an unbeaten 70 off 48 balls, and it was his knock which helped Rajasthan cruise to victory at the end.
After electing to bat first, Chennai’s innings never took off and they could only manage a well below-par total of 125/5 in their 20 overs. In reply, Rajasthan found themselves in trouble as well when they lost their top three batters inside the first five overs.
While the likes of Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia and Deepak Chahar had indeed bowled fine spells, there was no doubt that the pitch too wasn’t making life easy for the batsmen. It was a used surface which made it a bit two-paced. And that is why Buttler’s free-flowing knock was so impressive.
With Smith labouring his way to 26 off 34, Buttler showed no signs of discomfort and played his usual, attacking game. He hit seven fours and two sixes and his stay at the crease ruled out any chance CSK had of making a comeback. He rotated the strike at will, never looked hurried, and each time there was a bad ball delivered, he didn’t miss out.
“Buttler took the pressure off me,” said Smith. “I just knocked it around, and he just batted the way he usually does. He always maintains a good strike-rate.”
CSK coach Stephen Fleming added: “Buttler played an exceptional innings. He was a lot different from the rest of the batters, who found it difficult. So when you’ve got a good partnership going, you’ve got a player playing this well, it makes most conditions look a bit benign. That’s what took our spinners out of the game.”
When Buttler strikes the ball this way, Rajasthan Royals look a whole lot different. If he manages to remain in the groove, there’s no attack in this tournament he can’t take down. His knock against Chennai is a great sign for RR. They’re locked in a tight race for the playoffs and an in-form Buttler gives them the edge they desperately needed. He’s played one match-winning innings for them now and there’s reason to believe he can keep going.
“I tried to come out with some intensity in my batting, didn’t think I had enough of it in our last game,” said Buttler. “I decided to take a few more options tonight and it came off. You have to keep trusting yourself. Particularly when there’s no scoreboard pressure, you can play yourself in and cut loose in the end. I’m happy to do whatever the team needs to me do.”