Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 2 (ANI): Former England cricketer Nick Knight is impressed with the way Rajasthan Royals’ star opener Jos Buttler is scoring runs game after game in the ongoing IPL 2022.
The top-order English batter is on a run-scoring spree in the ongoing IPL and there’s no stopping him. In the 15th edition of IPL, the explosive right-handed batter is leading the Orange Cap race by a margin of more than a hundred runs.
The Royals’ wicketkeeper-batter is at the top of the run-scoring list with 566 runs to his name in nine matches.
Knight has applauded Buttler for forgetting the success of the previous game every time he walks into the field and taking his time to get used to the pitch, conditions and then construct his innings accordingly.
Speaking on ‘Cricket Live’ on Star Sports, Knight said: “What impressed me hugely about Jos Buttler is the way he’s started every innings. I mean if we look at the outcome of his innings, mostly it’s either the 50s or 100s, he’s (looking) in a different gear. (But) He tends to forget what he did in the previous game and starts afresh. (He) Hasn’t taken his form for granted at all. He’s giving himself a few balls to get in and then play those big shots.”
Former England spinner Graeme Swann, however, has cautioned Rajasthan Royals to not rely heavily on Buttler and advised the middle-order batters to start scoring runs in the middle overs. Swann reckons scoring at a decent pace in the middle overs will augur well for the teams in the upcoming games as the pitches will slow down at the far end of the tournament while most of the Rajasthan batters love batting on fast surfaces.
Swann said, “The worrying thing from Rajasthan Royals’ point of view, if there is something they need to worry about, is that at the back end of the tournament the wickets are going to slow down where it will start skidding more. Up until now, they’ve played on some brilliant batting tracks and the RR batting has been so good that they’ve won every game.”
“They’ve been too far ahead of every team. But with the wickets turning and getting slow (as the tournament progresses) may distract them going forward and they might lose some close games. So, they’ll have to find a way because it cannot always be smash-smash-smash, and they can’t heavily rely on Buttler. They need to find a way in the middle overs to score those 10-20 runs extra even in low scoring games,” he added.
Two teams on the opposite ends of the points table in Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals will be stepping onto the field, hoping to set fire to their individual causes on Monday. Barring the swashbuckling contest that would involve two juggernauts going head-to-head, vengeance will also be on the cards after KKR’s narrow defeat in their preceding encounter. (ANI)