Jos Buttler: “Those couple of weeks in the IPL gave me huge amounts of confidence”
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England batsman Jos Buttler has credited the Indian Premier League (IPL) for all the success he has had in the two-Test series against Pakistan.
Buttler represented the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and scored five half-centuries in a row, which equalled the tournament record set by legendary India batsman Virender Sehwag back in 2012.
Buttler was the top-scorer in the two-Test series against Pakistan as he scored 161 runs, which included two half-centuries, at an average of 80.50.
Explaining why he thinks the IPL helped him make a successful Test comeback, Buttler was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying: “Those couple of weeks in the IPL gave me huge amounts of confidence.
“To be in those pressure situations in India, playing in front of crowds, the pressure of being an overseas player, that showed me a lot about where I was at and where I can get to, so that gave me a lot of confidence.
“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.
“In T20 there’s generally another game soon after, so you know you’ve got another opportunity coming up. You probably just move on if you fail. But in Test cricket, if you get out early, you have a long time to think about it.
“I started to think too much about how to not get out, as opposed to how to score runs. I got in a really bad rut that I just couldn’t get out of. The only real way to get out of it was to be dropped. And actually, being dropped released a lot of pressure. It wasn’t very long after that that I made an ODI hundred in Dubai, which was a turnaround for me after a long and hard six months.”
Just prior to that century in Dubai, Buttler began the ritual of writing “F**k it” in marker pen on the top of his bat handle.
The phrase was caught on camera during the second Test against Pakistan at Headingley.
Revealing the reason behind that particular phrase and why he writes it on the top of his bat handle, Buttler said: “It’s just something that reminds me of what my best mindset is when I’m playing cricket and probably in life as well.
“It puts cricket in perspective. When you nick off, does it really matter? It’s just a good reminder when I’m in the middle or when I’m questioning myself and it brings me back to a good place.
“Now my mentality is quite similar to my first few Tests. I’m not worrying about external factors. I’m just trying to play the game and trusting myself.”