Those Couple of Weeks in the IPL Gave Me Huge Amounts of Confidence - Jos Buttler

An impressive outing in the second half of the Indian Premier League helped Jos Buttler get a recall from England’s Test team for Pakistan series.

But while there are no doubts over his batting technique, there were apprehensions all around the hard-hitting batsman might flounder again in Tests.

Despite making his debut way back in 2014, Buttler was yet to prove his Test credentials. Well, the 26-year old finally managed to give a couple of performances in white which is worth mentioning.

His 67-run knock in the second innings of Lord’s Test could not help England avoid a nine-wicket defeat against Pakistan. But his stroke-filled 80 at Headingley led England to an innings and 55-run. It was a performance that squared the two-match series and earned him the man-of-the-match champagne.

Speaking after the win in the second Test, Buttler said the performance in IPL helped him gain ‘huge amount of confidence’.

“Those couple of weeks in the IPL gave me huge amounts of confidence,” he said. “To be in those pressure situations in India, playing in front of crowds and the pressure of being an overseas player. That showed me a lot about where I was at and where I can get to. For me, not trying to worry about the colour of the ball definitely helps. Having put in good performances elsewhere and not putting as much pressure on myself.”

Buttler had started the IPL on a poor note. However, his fortunes changed once he got promoted as an opener. He slammed five consecutive fifties including two unbeaten 90s.

The 20-Test old Buttler further said he is in a better place mentally to cope with the full demands of Test cricket.

“If anything, my mentality has been quite similar to my first few Tests. Not worrying about external factors, just trying to play the game, trusting myself. The big difference is experience,” he said.

“When I was a young player, I didn’t really believe in experience when the older guys told me I would improve or understand things with time. I used to think you could either do it or you can’t. But now I understand how valuable experience is, and maturity, to help you to deal with not only the on-field stuff but what goes on around it,” he added.

The keeper-batsman went on to explain in his early days of Test career, Buttler spent too much energy on how not to get out instead on how to score. Jos also said getting dropped helped him in a certain way.

“I learned some really valuable stuff there and got in a really bad rut that I just couldn’t get out of,” he said. “The only real way to get out of it was to be dropped. And actually, being dropped released a lot of pressure. Actually, it wasn’t very long after that that I had a hundred in Dubai (116 in an ODI against Pakistan), which was a turnaround for me after a long and hard six months.”