Jos Buttler terms England as “serious outfit” for Champions Trophy 2017

Jos Buttler is a vital cog in the current league leaders of Indian Premier League (IPL), Mumbai Indians. The Englishman has been in good form too. But England Cricket Board (ECB) is still not sure about how his stint at IPL would help him perform better for the organising country of ICC Champions Trophy.

For English national team, Buttler plays the role of a finisher. Whereas, for Mumbai, he is opening the innings alongside former Indian national team wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. He is going to keep wickets for England, while for the IPL counterpart,  Patel is doing that in the IPL. Since Buttler will not be available for the playoffs the team has replaced him with Lendl Simmons in the last few games. These are the reasons why ECB is a little worried.

“I’ve just been trying to catch a few balls on the side in training; I’ve been trying to do a little bit more in the last few days or weeks. But it’s a hectic schedule – there’s actually not that many training days when you start playing all the games. But that’s down to me. I’ve got to be professional; I want to be a wicket-keeper and looking forward to the Champions Trophy I want to be at the top of my game. So it’s important that, even though I’m not keeping wicket in the games, I’m fresh and sharp and raring to go when I get the chance,” Buttler said in an interview with Skysports.

On opening for Mumbai Indians

Mumbai coach Mahela Jayawardene recently said that Buttler is opening the innings for them since they have Pollard in their rank who is a great finisher. Reacting to that, Buttler said, “He spoke to me before the tournament and said is it something I’d be interested in doing and I jumped at the chance. I still feel quite young but I’m at the stage of my career where it’s quite nice to try something completely different – a different role makes everything new and exciting again,”

“Guys like Krunal Pandya and Hardik Pandya are pretty explosive at the back end as well so maybe he felt we were loading up too much at the back end and use me to try and take advantage of those first six overs. I’ve enjoyed that freedom to go out and play without a scenario in front of me. Setting the tone is different but you can bring your intensity and try to set up the innings.”

When he was informed that Eoin Morgan had admitted that he would be very disappointed if England fails to win a trophy under his leadership, he said “Yeah, potentially. It’s only right that Eoin as captain should want to win trophies – I think the whole squad wants to do that. That’s why we play the game. I’ve played in some good county sides and lost a couple of finals for England – the World Twenty20 final and the Champions Trophy final last time,”

“When you feel that pain of being a runner-up and watching the pain of other sides lifting trophies, you’re desperate for that to be you. So it’s right that we should be looking to win the tournament. We’ve been playing really well for the last 18 months to two years,” he said.

“We were a pretty young side back then but now the guys have got some games under their belt and tasted success individually and as a team – so the Champions Trophy probably comes at a very good time for the side and maybe even the 2019 World Cup will come at an even better time for the side, with guys having even more caps under their belt and more experience,” Buttler concluded.

England is placed in Group A alongside Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh. This group is referred to as the comparatively tougher group among the two, and it would be better for the hosts if Buttler adjusts to his roles quickly.