ENG vs IND 2018: Jos Buttler Denies Rivalry Over Wicketkeeper's Role With Jonny Bairstow

England star Jos Buttler, on Saturday, insisted their is no rivalry between him and Jonny Bairstow over the wicketkeeping gloves. Buttler is keeping the wickets in the ongoing fourth England vs India Test as Bairstow is not fully fit.

Jonny Bairstow fractured his middle finger while keeping wickets in the third Test at Trent Bridge last week. As a result, he had to leave the field with Jos Buttler taking over behind the stumps. Buttler, England’s limited-overs ‘keeper, settled immediately into the role and followed it up with a maiden Test hundred on day four.

After the game, head coach Trevor Bayliss had said Bairstow could play as a specialist batsman with Buttler taking over behind the stumps in the fourth Test. At the same time, he had also said that it would be tough to convince Bairstow to give up wicketkeeping.

Later, Bairstow had made it clear he wants to reclaim the job as soon as he is fit. And now Buttler has said he is ‘not fussed’ about the situation and all and is happy to be in the Test team irrespective of whether he dons the gloves or not.

“Not at all from my angle, and not from Jonny’s either,” Buttler told the media after the third day’s play. “It’s not been a problem at all.

“Obviously Jonny’s not fit to keep wicket in this match, which is frustrating for him because he’s been fantastic for the last few years. Whatever happens moving forward, it doesn’t affect me or Jonny,” he added.

Buttler further said he is simply happy to keep his place in the Test team.

“I’m not fussed,” he said. “From a few months ago, to even be in the Test match side is fantastic – so gloves on or not, it doesn’t matter.”

Buttler, nonetheless, once again impressed with the bat. He scored a fighting to help England end the day on 260 for 8 and extend their lead to 233.

England were 122 for 5 when Buttler joined Ben Stokes at the crease. It was the Buttler-Stokes partnership that resurrected England’s innings and laid the platform for a good total. Buttler and Stokes had already shared some handy partnerships in the ongoing series.

“We’ve batted together in quite a lot of situations in different formats. So that rapport is obviously comforting in a way and allows you to get the best out of each other,” Buttler said.

“We’ve got that right, left-hand combination, trying to rotate the strike and not let bowlers settle. We just went about it the same way … trying to extend the partnership, and slowly and steadily building the lead,” he added.

Sam Curran and Adil Rashid, meanwhile, will start the proceedings with the bat on day four. England lead the five-match series 2-1.