Jos Buttler: Why Is He A Match Winner In T20 Format?

Jos Buttler has been sensational in IPL for Royals and also off late for England when was given the responsibility to open the batting.

Jos Buttler has been sensational in IPL for Royals and also off late for England when was given the responsibility to open the batting. In T20’s bowlers these days even start operating with a Deep square leg and long on for explosive players like Jos Buttler taking the defensive route straightaway. What makes him special is his striking ability and his strengths. He scores more than 60% of his runs through covers , cow corner & fine leg which is very rare commodity as a batsmen and particularly if some one opens the batting its next to impossible to set a field in Power Play to stop him. Performance Chart / Analysis on Jos Buttler (Overall) from Year 2018 IPL – Till Date The above table clearly shows a remarkable improvement in performances tournament by tournament after he started opening. The difference that makes when he opens the batting and he doesn’t is massive. In Power Play his Strike rate is close to 185 whereas after Power Play the Strike rate drops down to less than 125.His SR against pace bowlers off late is close to 180 compared to 120 against spinners. The day RR started using him as an opener things started changing for him. It was a rain affected game where RR was set to chase 151 in 12 overs against Delhi they promoted Jos to open the innings and the move took off and from there Jos has emerged as one of the most destructive opening batsman in this format in world T20 cricket. Shot Selection The key strengths of Jos Buttler is the array of shots he displays. Jos Butlter has scored more runs than any one playing the scoop shots in T20 cricket.He connects 8/10 on average when he plays the scoop shot which is the most successful stat than any other batsmen in the world these days.He doesn’t cut as much as other do nor he plays the flick shots dominated by wrists through square leg as other conventional batsmen does in Power play. Then how does he make such an huge impact in Power Play with limited shots & limited scoring areas ? Jos Buttler Scoop Shot Record – Last 2 Years His record playing the scoop / lap shot is beyond comparison to anyone in last 2 years of International / domestic cricket. He has scored 9 sixes which is the most by any batsmen playing scoop shots. Decoding Jos Buttler Strengths Left: Inside out shot where you can see both the feet parallel and pointing towards covers all he has got to do is drag his back foot behind the front foot make room and caress the ball through covers. Center: Famous slog over cow corner where he has already opened up his front leg a little only to clear it after the ball pitches and deposit it to the stands. Right: Here is the most interesting case study analyzing his scoop shot which is the best ever by any batsmen. He double bluffs the bowler by making a movement with his back foot and forces the bowler to bowl straight and the result a boundary very fine through fine leg where its impossible to set a field for that shot. Position at Pitch of the ball – Scoop Shot See the position he gets in which is the main reason for him to be successful in executing the scoop shot than anyone else in the world. He moves outside the line of the pitch of the ball where he doesn’t take the eyes of the ball until he makes contact with the ball whereas other batsmen tend to pick the ball from outside eye line or with in the line of the body where they tend to take the eyes of the ball resulting in spooning the ball to short fine leg or get hit in the body. Point of Contact – Scoop Shot See how closely he watches the ball even at the point of contact which is the prime reason for him to make contact most of the times. Finish – Scoop Shot Comparison Left: Dilshan see the position he gets in and at the point of contact he is not even looking at the ball which is high risk. Right: Jos for a similar delivery in line and length moves well outside off stump allows the ball inside the line of his body watches the ball until the last minute and plays it with perfection. This is the reason why Jos Buttler is the master of scoop shot and has got better results playing this shot in comparison with Dilshan , AB Devilliers & Brendon Mc Cullam to name a few. The author is currently a Performance Manager / Technical Analyst (Cricket South Africa) from Oct 2010 – till date.