IPL 2018: Jos Buttler leaves heartfelt message for the Royals

Jos Buttler recently equalled Virender Sehwag’s record for the most number of consecutive half-centuries (5) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has been in prime form and one of the major reasons why the Royals have made it in the race for the playoffs. The wicketkeeper-batsman is currently the leading run-scorer for RR having notched 548 runs in 13 matches.

However, he won’t take any further part in the tournament, owing to national duties. The swashbuckling cricketer was recently selected in England’s Test squad for their home series against Pakistan which starts on May 24. The news comes a massive blow to Ajinkya Rahane’s team as Buttler evolved as the driving force for them with the bat.

Buttler previously batted at the middle order, but couldn’t make much of an impact. Nevertheless, his fortunes changed and thereafter, he turned out to be a tormenting factor for the opponents. Rajasthan will next play the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium and the franchise is expected to dearly miss the services of the Englishman.

The upcoming challenge for the Royals

Ben Stokes, another Royals cricketer, was also included in the Test squad and he won’t be there with the Royals either from the next match onwards. He picked up some important wickets in the last match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and looked in decent touch. It will now be interesting to see RR’s strategies without their gun players.

Meanwhile, Buttler left a heart-warming message for his team on Instagram. The 27-year old hailed the team for the wonderful moments he spent, both on and off the field. Here is what he wrote

“A massive thank you to everyone involved in the very special @rajasthanroyals set up! What an amazing few weeks in India with some fantastic memories made on and off the pitch. Such a great changing room to be a part of and incredible family feel the franchise have developed. Have loved my time with everyone and I will be watching on Saturday as we make it through to the play offs!! #hallabol”

Here is Buttler’s post:

A massive thank you to everyone involved in the very special @rajasthanroyals set up! What an amazing few weeks in India with some fantastic memories made on and off the pitch. Such a great changing room to be a part of and incredible family feel the franchise have developed. Have loved my time with everyone and I will be watching on Saturday as we make it through to the play offs!! #hallabol

A post shared by Jos Buttler (@josbuttler) on May 16, 2018 at 12:09am PDT

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