Jos Buttler said he will not change his batting approach despite scoring low scores in the ongoing T20 World Cup and said he cannot just focus on staying at the crease if the team needs quick runs.
The former England captain has not scored a half-century in his last 14 ODIs and T20Is, with a highest score of 39.
“T20 is a game that requires you to keep batting. Sometimes, you might not perform well in a Test match with a batting coach who might say ‘just control it a little bit and try to bat for an hour and it will come back to you’. So by any means necessary, bat for an hour. But in T20, you have to keep playing with the scoreboard; if you chase 10 runs in an over, then you get the win. Play accordingly,” Buttler said.
“I saw Nasser saying, ‘Bat only 15 overs’ and I would be happy to bat only 15 overs but I don’t want to just bat 15 overs for myself and ignore the game. You have to keep playing,” Buttler said on the ‘Cricket for the Love’ podcast, referring to Nasser Hussain’s comments.
Buttler scored 26 and 21 against Nepal and West Indies respectively in Mumbai, followed by 3 and 3 against Scotland and Italy in Kolkata as England progressed to the Super 8 stage.
“It’s been a bit frustrating so far, the game keeps challenging you and no matter where you are in your career there’s always something that challenges you. I’ve been through a lot of bad periods in 15 years in all different formats; in the end you always come back to the same thing, which is to stand still, watch the ball and believe in yourself,” he added.
The former England captain also said he would not change his batting position to cope with the slump.
“The only person who can score my runs is myself. I’m not going to score by hiding or sending someone else out; I have to put my own shirt on, mark down the middle, and then we go. It always comes back at some point, so look forward to the next opportunity.”
Buttler also spoke about his time in Mumbai. “I think Mumbai is a city that I really like. There are some really good restaurants there to go to. There’s a lot of activity there. It’s obviously busy here, but that’s all part of the fun of India,” he said.
He also spoke highly of the performance of each team in this competition. “United played really well. I’m sure they all felt like they had nothing to lose. They were looking for that giant-killing performance and it was so close.”
England have entered the Super 8 stage and will play in Sri Lanka. They will face the co-hosts at the Palleke International Stadium on Sunday.
