Jos Buttler’s knock at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday (17 April) will be shown, spoken about, and cherished for years aplenty, for it was historic in multiple ways. The unbeaten 60-ball 107 was not only the English wicketkeeper-batter’s seventh century in the Indian Premier League (IPL), making him only the second player to score more than six centuries in this competition, but it also helped Rajasthan Royals record the joint-highest successful chase in IPL, as they chased a target of 224 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders.
What was particularly impressive about Buttler’s knock was how he paced his innings, having struggled to accelerate in initial overs. After 14 overs, when Rajasthan required 94 runs with only four wickets to spare, the 2022 T20 World Cup-winning skipper had scored only 42 runs from 33 deliveries.
However, the next 23 deliveries that he faced yielded 67 runs, as the likes of Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana, and even the tournament’s most expensive player – Mitchell Starc – were taken for a ride.
After the match, Buttler acknowledged that the first few overs were challenging for him, albeit he was determined to remain unbeaten till the end, taking a leaf out of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni’s books.
Guys like (MS) Dhoni and (Virat) Kohli stay till the end and keep believing. I tried to apply the same today. It is something (Kumar) Sangakkara has told me a lot, that there is always a breaking point. The worst thing you can do is to not fight and give your wicket away.Jos Buttler
Real Key Was To Keep Believing: Jos Buttler
Buttler has had a rather strange season so far, wherein he has either been brilliant, or of very little use. He has scored a couple of centuries already in IPL 2024, but in the other four games, he has accumulated 43 runs.
Harping on the importance of remaining calm and having belief, Buttler added:
The real key was to keep believing. I was struggling a bit for rhythm. At times you feel frustrated. You are questioning yourself. I tell myself it's okay, keep going, you'll get your rhythm back. I try to stay calm. There have been plenty of times throughout the IPL where you have seen crazy things happen.Jos Buttler
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