LONDON: The England opener insists his team aren’t too fussed about the result in the opening T20I and will come back harder, reported ICC.
Jos Buttler has said that England aren’t too fussed about the loss in their first Twenty20 International against India, and insisted a bounce back was imminent.
“It’s one game. It’s T20,” said Buttler, who was one of the hosts’ better performers in Manchester. “We are confident. We will stick to what has served us well, stay true to ourselves and come back hard at them in the next game.”
Barring the first five overs of the England innings, where they scored 50 for the loss of one wicket, it was India all the way. Virat Kohli’s men restricted the hosts to 159/8 and then riding on a resplendent 54-ball 101* by KL Rahul, polished off the chase with 10 balls to spare.
The atmosphere at Manchester too gave the feel of a home game for the Indians with a sea of blue packing the ground and Buttler admitted that was something his side will “have to accept”.
“India are and always are an amazing cricketing nation,” said the 27-year-old. “They always pose different threats and a different style to, say, Australia, so it will be a really good challenge. This is why you play, to take on the best.
“India is a huge cricketing nation with fanatical support. Being a diverse country, we have a lot of Indian supporters and it makes for a great atmosphere. We just have to accept that, and they get that support everywhere in the world.”
Ever since he started opening the innings for Rajasthan Royals mid-way through IPL 11, Buttler seems to have found a new dimension to his game. He has been in the form of his life over the past few months, churning out incredible numbers in almost every game.
In the first T20I as well, the England opener was the only one who looked unruffled by the spin of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, as he carted a 46-ball 69 to take his team to a respectable score.
“It’s a fantastic place to bat,” Buttler said of opening the batting. “It’s been another good challenge for me in my career and refreshing. Whether that’s me opening forever, I don’t know, I’d hope to retain the flexibility. But I do think it’s the best place to bat. But it comes down to the make-up of the team.”
Buttler attributed his consistency in recent times to being in a better mental space. “It’s about accessing the mental side of the game and that’s been pleasing, to work out good routines and staying in the moment in games,” he said.
“You see guys around the world doing that and it’s been a case of trying to work out how they do that. But it’s your own mindfulness as well. When I was younger I didn’t pay much attention to that or trust it enough, it was all about technique in practice. Being calm is allowing me to make good decisions, which is pleasing.”
Spin was always going to be a potent weapon in the Indian armour and Kuldeep’s five-wicket haul in the opening game showed just how huge an asset the left-arm wrist spinner is going to be in the visitors’ two-month long tour.
Buttler, though, was confident England could pick the spinner as the series progressed.
“It’s very rare and he’s a very good bowler,” Buttler said of Kuldeep. “It’s now down to the guys to gain an understanding. You see it a lot in international cricket that guys burst onto the scene and then people get a handle on them.
“It’s getting used to the angle [because] wrist-spin is usually right-arm. He’s a good bowler and as we have seen, wrist spinners have been a big weapon in T20. We know we are a lot better than we showed during that little phase of the game. We just didn’t manage to capitalize on the start.”
