Joe Root, Jos Buttler to play for Sydney Thunder in BBL 2018-19

Root will make his debut in the league while Buttler returns to Sydney Thunder after scoring 202 runs in six innings during last year's BBL

England Test skipper Joe Root and his deputy Jos Buttler are all set to play for Sydney Thunder in the 2018-19 Big Bash League. Both the English cricketers signed the deal on Friday and will and will be available seven games before leaving for West Indies tour in January.

In a statement Friday, Root said "everyone you speak to that has played in the Big Bash finds it a really interesting tournament and watching it you can see that. You want to be involved in it and I'm really excited to get that opportunity with Sydney Thunder."

Full interview with Joe Root on joining Sydney Thunder. WATCH - https://t.co/bOD0YowE68 #ThunderNation pic.twitter.com/o9cTkBvRcq

— Sydney Thunder (@ThunderBBL) August 24, 2018

This step will be particularly significant for Root who went unsold in the mega auctions of the Indian Premier League 2018. He had already stated that he wants to improve himself in the shortest format of the game. However, he had to miss a few opportunities after taking up the Test captaincy. He also didn’t feature in the recently concluded T20I series against India.

On the other hand, Jos Buttler is one of the best cricketers of this format. He played for Mumbai Indians in 2017 and this year, played a crucial role for Rajasthan Royals in IPL. He returns to Sydney Thunder after scoring 202 runs in six innings during last year's BBL.