New Delhi: Gujarat Titans wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler said the Indian Premier League (IPL), whose 19th edition starts from Saturday, has had the biggest influence on his cricketing career, adding that conversations he has had during his time in the tournament have served him well while representing England in all three formats.
Buttler has played 121 matches and scored 4,120 runs at an average of 40, a strike rate of 149.38, including hitting seven hundreds and 24 fifties. He enjoyed a prolific IPL 2025 by amassing 538 runs in 13 innings at an imposing average of 59.8 and a strike rate of 163, as he, Shubman Gill, and B Sai Sudharsan made for a formidable top-order in the competition.
“Absolutely – as I said, I think the IPL has been the biggest influence on my cricket career. Some of the lessons that I’ve learned during IPL seasons, (then) some of the interactions I’ve had, and some of the people I’ve had the pleasure of getting to meet and work with as coaches and players.
“It’s just in the IPL — some of the conversations that I’ve taken from the IPL have served me well in playing for England in both Test cricket and T20 cricket, then 50-over cricket - so it’s had a huge impact.
“Like Kevin (Pietersen) was saying in his interview (on Buttler’s podcast), the opportunity to be a friend of Rahul Dravid and work on that technique about playing spin creates some great opportunities that would otherwise be very limited.
“Even for instance, I’ve been here for three or four days and getting to talk to Matthew Hayden about batting — I wouldn’t get that opportunity probably otherwise. So it’s really had the same impact for me as for KP,” Buttler told IANS in a virtual roundtable chat on Saturday. IANS
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