Shikhar Dhawan’s great consistency with the bat doesn’t quite tell the picture. Well, it does, but not fully.
To know it all, even the great Virat Kohli’s staggering batting and class alone do not suffice even as it’s something that clearly outshines the rest.
Maybe, even Andre Russell and Glenn Maxwell’s power hitting do not quite suggest the entire picture.
It doesn’t end here.
Even sights to behold such as legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s calm headed captaincy and the ability to say unfazed or Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult’s sensational pace bowling don’t quite tell the entire picture.
But then neither does Sanju Samson’s six hitting nor Rinku Singh’s deathly treatment of the bowlers particularly towards the death overs.
These are major contributors of the success story of the Indian Premier League, but not the full picture.
Today, the entirety of the IPL’s success stands rather incomplete in the absence of Jos Buttler and his brute batting.
And while the RCB-obsessed, for instance, may deny it and maybe ditto for the die hard CSK backer. Truth certainly is, that a Jos Buttler is just as important to the Indian Premier League today as is a Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni.
Though, purely if one were to tread on fan count and the number of loyalists that they have, then the iconic Virat would undoubtedly leave Buttler behind.
But the jewel of English batting holds massive significance for his IPL franchise today; he is after all, a significant Royal of Rajasthan.
Make no mistake of thinking that Jos Buttler is the only star presence for the Rajasthan Royals camp.
Nothing could be further than the truth.
This is a side that has Sanju Samson, the captain who hits sixes for pure fun, the man who’s come such a long way having been the dependable opener alongside Ajinkya Rahane in the good old days.
This is a side that has a world class all rounder in Jason Holder, a former captain of a national side.
And who can ever undermine the presence of swashbuckling big hitters such as Shimron Hetmyer, who where the current edition stands, is coming into his own as Rajasthan’s own royal finisher.
But then the central pivot of the side, the man on whose able shoulders rests the massive responsibility of getting the side off to a flier only to then go the distance is Jos Buttler.
As uncomplicated as his name, Jos Buttler, it can be reckoned, is delightfully accepting the responsibility of scoring the big runs for
Rajasthan. The vital runs. Those that count. Those that determine the ultimate fate of the team.
And that he does with glee acting as the mainstay of the famous IPL franchise from up top the order is a sight as refreshing as a flower blossoming in mother nature’s lap.
So far, Jos Buttler’s romancing the IPL. His is a saga whose central theme is the sheer love for run scoring.
With scores of 54, 19, 79 and 52, yet another season has begun quite well for the promising right hander that doesn’t fawn over lost chances and just believes in taking one solid day at a time.
But then, it must be submitted without going needlessly ga-ga about the polished batter that blind hitting and wild slogging aren’t the only factors behind Jos Buttler’s IPL success.
Well, it qualifies to be called success if you haven’t yet played a hundred games and still crossed the enviable 3,000 run mark in the world’s most famous T20 franchise based league.
Someone who likes to stay there and pace his inning, Buttler has already been unbeaten on ten occasions from the onset of 2016.
Though, what’s rather fascinating is that even when he makes IPL records and just a year back, he made an exasperating one, he doesn’t quite dominate headlines for long.
How’s that?
In 2022, whilst remaining unbeaten on 70, an inning laced with 6 sixes against the RCB, Jos Buttler made the record for the highest T20 score without a boundary.
This year, whilst it’s no record, yet something worthy of being noted, Jos Buttler is the most consistent batsman from his franchise. And we are yet to see some 50 games up ahead.
Though it ought to be submitted that playing every ball to its merit and applying the basics of not taunting a really furious or in form bowler that could wreck the scoreboard is also somewhere Buttler’s strength.
He plans his attacks. He will step on the gas and at times, from the ball one but he won’t be seen doing anything eccentric against a Rashid or Narine all the time.
Saving one’s wicket for the end is also a skill. It needs more thoughtfulness instead of losing cool in the heat of the moment.
Moreover, much like distinguished power hitters such as Killer Miller David Miller, who fear no one- whether Boult, Umran, Pandya, Stokes or Rabada- Jos Buttler takes the attack head on.
Not a man of words or lyrics, his bat is the main instrument of expression.
And where the ongoing IPL edition stands, it can be seen that it’s playing well into the hands of Jos Buttler.
Rajasthan will hope that the bowlers continue to dance to Jos’s tune.