I finally will have Alastair Cook stop telling me that he has got one T20 hundred more than me: Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler smashed his maiden T20 century on Sunday, May 2 during the Indian Premier League 2021 match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. After getting to the landmark score, Buttler joked how Alastair Cook, the former England captain, will not be able to say that he has one more hundred than the English keeper in T20 cricket. 

Playing for Rajasthan Royals against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the English wicketkeeper-batsman scored 124 runs from 64 balls. Opening the innings for his team, Buttler batted till the 19th over and helped his team’s total well beyond the 200-run mark. During his knock, he smashed 11 fours and eight huge sixes. 

After the innings ended, Buttler caught up with the Star Sports’ (the host broadcaster) commentators to talk about his mammoth effort. During this interaction, the English cricketer was asked how did it take him so long to get to his maiden T20 century. As a power-hitter and one of the best batsmen in the format, the fact that he didn’t score a century in the format was absurd.

I have spent a lot of my career in the middle order: Jos Buttler on his wait for a maiden T20 ton

However, Buttler rightly noted that he spent most of his career batting down the order. He has only started opening the batting in the shortest format as recent as 2017 or 2018. “I have spent a lot of my career in the middle order where hundreds aren’t easy to come by. At the top of the order you get a great chance,” the 30-year-old said. This was his 282nd T20 match and 47th score past 50 in the format. 

Buttler further went on to joke how Alastair Cook won’t be able to remind him that he doesn’t have a T20 century. He said, “I finally will have Alastair Cook stop telling me that he has got one T20 hundred more than me.” Cook, who played only 32 T20 matches during his long and illustrious career, did score a T20 century. His only ton in the format came way back in the 2009 Twenty20 Cup, when scored 100 not out off 57 balls, playing for Essex against Surrey. 

During the interaction, the Rajasthan Royals’ batsman also revealed that he was watching the coverage of the pre-match analysis where the experts had shown that he has struggled against Rashid Khan. “The mindset against Rashid was to just try and stay out there. He’s had my number for a long time, so thankful to not get out to him,” Buttler said. Despite averaging about 2.5 against Rashid, Buttler managed to negate his threat marching along for his hundred.

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