IPL 2019: Kevin Pietersen and Broad have a laugh at Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler's caricatures

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is just two days away and already players from all over are assembling in their respective franchise camps. England players are always popular in the IPL even though they are notorious for not playing the tournament for the entire length because of national responsibilities. Two major English names that will feature in the tournament are Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler who arrived in India on Thursday.

The two hard-hitting specialists were greeted by the supporters of their franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) and were also handed out their own caricatures to hold. The caricatures had more differences than similarities with the two players and that made their compatriot Kevin Pietersen and Stuart Broad have a good laugh.

While Pietersen commented on Buttler’s photo saying, “Jos Butter has had a shocker there”, Broad, who has never played in the IPL, was after Stokes, saying, “Delightful hairline Stokesy, taking that all day long.”

RR will be banking heavily on Stokes, Buttler this season

Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler are two of the Royals’ mainstays in the T20 tournament. Stokes has been playing in the tournament since 2017 and endured a tough season last year while Buttler has been featuring in the league for some years now. Last year, he was in a great nick, scoring five consecutive fifties before leaving the competition prematurely for England duties.

Ajinkya Rahane’s side will believe that the duo, along with former Australia captain Steve Smith, will help the Royals make a serious attempt to reclaim the trophy they had won over a decade ago under the captaincy of Shane Warne, who is now the franchise’s brand ambassador.

Before flying to India, Buttler, who slammed a 150 in an ODI against the Windies recently, said he wanted to emulate Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli and remain at the top of his game.

“Why can’t you just stay at peak level. Someone like [Virat] Kohli scores a hundred every game. He doesn’t think: ‘Ah, that was okay, I’ll peak at some point’. Just do it every day. That’s the sort of mindset I’ve been wanting to hit,” Buttler told his country’s media before leaving for the IPL. The Royals will play Kings XI Punjab in their first match of the season in Jaipur on March 25.

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