England’s limited-overs vice-captain Jos Buttler has stated that opening the batting remains his preferential position in T20 cricket and also revealed that Eoin Morgan backs him to open the batting as well. However, he added that the debate around him opening the batting will never end.
After making scores of 28 and 0 in the first two T20Is, senior batsman Jos Buttler was expected to perform well and stage a comeback for England in the series after they lost the second T20I. And he just did that and in the most Jos Buttler fashion as he hammered the Indian bowlers enroute to a match-winning 52-ball-83 that helped England win comfortably in the third T20I by eight wickets with 10 balls to spare. He adopted a gung-ho approach and kept attacking the hosts who were defending a meager target of 157.
Jos Buttler averages a whopping 51.23 with a strike-rate of 153.10 after 17 innings opening the batting and it’s this position in which he has had the most success so far in T20 internationals. After the match-winning fifty, Buttler reaffirmed that opening the batting remains his preference like most other people.
“Yes, opening the batting is my preference in the T20. I think for most people it is the best place to bat. But I am always open-minded, certain teams may ask me to bat somewhere else. We have lots of guys who would love to bat in that opening position. For most people, it’s probably the best place to bat in the game,” said Buttler in a virtual press conference, reported TOI.
He also remarked that even the English skipper Eoin Morgan wants him to open the batting and backs him completely in the role.
“Eoin is always very clear with every single player on what he expects from them and how much he backs them to do that job. At the moment he wants me to open the batting and he backs me 100 per cent so that gives me a lot of confidence,” he added.
England have no death of quality opening batsmen and the English vice-captain also knows that, He added that the debate around him opening the batting is a never ending one.
“I don’t know if it will ever end (debate of him opening the batting), people seem to quite enjoy talking about it. I certainly feel the pressure of that sometimes,”
After England won the third T20I on Tuesday, they took a lead of 2-1 in the five-match T20I series. The fourth T20I will be played on March 18.
