“Sometimes you just got to swallow your ego,” says Jos Buttler

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David Miller and Hardik Pandya made a 106 runs stand to take GT into the final

Jos Buttler entered the 700-run club this season with a 56-ball off 89 against Gujarat Titans in the Qualifier 1 while his knock took RR to 188 but it wasn’t enough as Miller and Pandya made a partnership to take GT into the final.

England wicket-keeper batter Jos Buttler entered the 700-run club this season with a 56 ball off 89 against Gujarat Titans in the Qualifier 1. 

It was anything but a thumping run of a mill of Buttler however, who had attempted to get rolling right off the bat in the game with the wicket holding a bit and batting not being the least demanding for a player who has had distinctly differentiating parts in IPL 2022. 

He had his fair possibilities with GT’s defenders neglecting to take the half-risks and he held tight, stuck around for his chance, and afterward started. After scoring 39 off 38 balls, he scored his last 50 runs in only 18 balls.

“I was finding it tough to start with,”

conceded Buttler.

“Then Sanju came in and was playing fantastically well from ball one, so tried to get him back on strike for a bit. He took a lot of me. It wasn’t my most fluent innings, but I tried to hang in tough and stay in there, get a bit at the end and ride my luck.

“What I tried to do is just hang in there. I know at some point I trust myself to get away. Today it came very late in the innings, sometimes you hope it comes early. But I was determined to hang in there. It was a big game for us and batting first I wanted to make sure we put a good score on the board. Sometimes you just got to swallow your ego; if you’re finding it hard, you’re finding it hard. Not to try and force it too much. Don’t panic. I know the opposition will prefer me to panic and get out so I just try and hang in there, bide my time and pick a match-up when I get it.”

His knock took RR to 188 but it wasn’t enough on the night as David Miller and Hardik Pandya shared a 106-run stand for the fourth wicket off 61 balls to take GT to the final in their debut tournament.

“Those two guys have been outstanding for us all season. We continue to back them. This is a tough place for bowlers – seam or spin. If you’re just a little bit off, it’s a very small ground with a very fast outfield. There are lots of boundaries available on this particular ground. We knew it was always going to be a little bit tough and bowling second, there was a little bit of dew as well. It’s one of the reasons we were desperate to finish in the top two; we’re still alive in the tournament and still got a chance. We were disappointed today but we’ll dust that off. We’re still in the tournament.”

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