Opening is a very good place to bat, admits Jos Buttler

Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) batting order has had more twists and turns this season than a David Lynch film. Their opening pair has been their major concern, with a plethora of options hovering around the only nailed candidate in their skipper Ajinkya Rahane. However, that problem is now solved with Englishman Jos Buttler taking the charge, and he has revealed that he prefers to open the innings than to be a middle-order batter.

Buttler was initially used by the RR management as a finisher but he failed to do his job. As the stats would say, the strikes rate nearly touches 200 during the powerplays, while to reaches close to hundred after the first six overs, which signifies he can use field restrictions to the fullest. Opening the innings yesterday (May 8) in the match against Kings XI Punjab, Buttler amassed a match-winning 82 runs from just 58 deliveries.

His innings was filled with six and nine boundaries. With this innings, he not only completed his third consecutive half-century but also kept the Royals in the hunt for the playoffs, “Opening is a nice change for me. Working wonders. It’s hard to work out what a good score is batting first. After six overs we thought It’ll be 180-200, but things slowed down. With KL Rahul batting well, there’s no safe score. You’re never quite sure. With the field up, you have a lot of options to clear the infield, which is different to batting near the end, where you have to clear the outfield. We’re still fighting, still in the tournament. Winning breeds confidence.”

Finding what a good score was hard, reveals Buttler

The Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur is known for its unpredictable nature. One can never comment what a safe score in on that pitch and hence, Buttler found it hard to have a target in his mind. Speaking about it, the 27-year-old said “Was hard to work out what a good score is. After the powerplay, you thought 180 is a good total but then it started to spin. You were never quite at home (on this pitch). Boys played well as a team, so we can take that confidence in the next game.”

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