Having been part of the Indian Premier League for five years, Rajasthan Royals explosive England batter, Jos Buttler, picked his all-time league XI, featuring some outstanding performers over the years.
Buttler made his IPL debut back in 2016 for Mumbai Indians before joining the Royals’ camp in 2018. The aggressive right-hand batter has made 1,968 runs from his 68 IPL games at an average of 35.14 and strike-rate of 150.00. Buttler is one of those rare gents, who can pick themselves in an all-time IPL XI, and he did so during a conversation on Cricbuzz Plus.
The Englishman picked MI’s captain and opening batsman, Rohit Sharma, as his partner at the top of the order. Rohit is one of the cleanest strikers of the cricket ball and would form a lethal combination with Buttler. The Indian right-hand batter has 5,480 runs from his 207 IPL matches at a strike rate of 130.50.
The middle-order in Buttler’s all-time IPL XI comprises a few batting greats, with two of the diamonds in Royal Challengers Bangalore shirt – Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers – picked to bat at No.3 and No.4, respectively.
Kohli now boasts of 6,076 from his 199 games in IPL history at an average of 37.97 and strike-rate of 130.41. The super consistent Kohli is followed by the equally explosive De Villiers, who has now scored 5,056 from 176 IPL matches at an average of 40.77 and strike-rate of 152.38. That’s two of the best part of Buttler’s all-time IPL XI.
Buttler, who has always idolised Chennai Super Kings’ legendary skipper MS Dhoni, has him as his wicketkeeper in the side. Dhoni has overseen three successful IPL campaigns with CSK and is regarded as one of the greatest-ever middle-order batters. He has made 4,669 runs from 211 IPL matches at an average of 40.25 and strike-rate of 136.64 and remains as safe as a house behind the stumps.
To further bolster his team, Buttler picked MI and CSK power-hitters, Kieron Pollard and Ravindra Jadeja to bat No.6 and No.7 for him. Pollard is one of the most dangerous end-overs batsmen in IPL history, while Jadeja also has improved his range against all kinds of bowling in recent years. Pollard’s strike-rate in the last two IPL seasons has been well above 170, with Jadeja also taking his rate of scoring to another level for CSK. The duo could also chip in with some useful overs for their side.
Buttler undoubtedly selected an outstanding batting unit while picking his all-time IPL XI. The only real surprise is his XI is the exclusion of Mr IPL Suresh Raina, one of the most consistent performers since the league’s inception back in 2018. Raina has made 5,491 runs from 200 IPL matches at an average of 33.07 and strike-rate of 136.89.
In the bowling department, Buttler looked to cover up all bases in picking pacers Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. The pace trio will help Buttler’s team enjoy a wood over the opponent upfront with the new ball and also keep a tight leash on run-scoring at the death. Harbhajan, one of IPL’s best finger-spinners, has been given the responsibility to control the middle-overs. Between them, Malinga, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar and Harbhajan have taken nearly 600 wickets in IPL cricket history and are renowned for not letting their captain down on most days.
Jos Buttler’s all-time IPL XI
Jos Buttler, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni (WK), Kieron Pollard, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga.
