Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler player profile

England have had many players down the ages who have gained world acclaim, but Jos Buttler is arguably their first global T20 superstar. He helped bring their limited-overs batting into the 21st century, and his impact on the one-day and T20 sides was extraordinary as they turned a group-stage exit in the 2015 World Cup into a triumph on home soil four years later.

In an 18-month period from mid-2014, Buttler scored England's three fastest one-day hundreds at the time. He also shone at the IPL, and for a few years was a senior player in the Test side following a surprise recall in 2018.

Soft-spoken and unassuming, with supple hands, a great eye, and an unflustered response and steely resolve in the face of the most daunting chases, Buttler foils opposing attacks with a 360-degree repertoire to rival those of the likes of AB de Villiers and Suryakumar Yadav. As he entered his 30s, Buttler reached a new level in short-form cricket, becoming indisputably one of the world's best T20 batters. In 2022 he hit 863 runs in the IPL, including four centuries, to take Rajasthan Royals to the final. Later that year, after taking over from Eoin Morgan as England's white-ball captain, he led them to their second men's T20 World Cup title, fulfilling their long-stated objective of holding both World Cups simultaneously.

Buttler was in the crowd at Taunton as a young spectator during the 1999 World Cup when India's Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid thrashed what was then the highest partnership in ODI cricket. He was hooked. Somerset gained special permission from the ECB to add him to their academy at 12, two years early. He made his first-class debut in 2009 and won acclaim for his white-ball performances the following season. Buttler was a regular in the County Championship for five years from 2010 - the last of them for Lancashire, after Craig Kieswetter became Somerset's first-choice wicketkeeper. Buttler played a part in Somerset's title challenge in 2010, and combined potently with Kieron Pollard in their run to T20 finals day that year and the next. And he impressed in the 2011 CB40 final, making a quick 86 in Somerset's defeat to Surrey.

He made his international debut in late 2011 and became a fixture of England's T20 side. A first ODI appearance came against Pakistan in the UAE during the winter, though he had to wait almost a year for his second cap.

England looked to Buttler for impetus and increasingly he delivered, striking 99 in an ODI against West Indies at North Sound in March 2014 and kicking off that summer with a first hundred against Sri Lanka at Lord's, in which he led a failed chase virtually single-handed. When Matt Prior was sidelined by Achilles trouble, Buttler was thrown into the Test team, where he scored five half-centuries in his first eight Tests, including 85 on debut against India, but his form faltered and he lost the gloves to Jonny Bairstow on England's tour of the UAE in 2015-16, during a period where his keeping started to make necessary improvements but his batting slipped away.

There were no such doubts about his place in the white-ball teams. He was named Morgan's vice-captain for the 2015 World Cup, and although that tournament was an unhappy one for England, Buttler was a key member of the side that reached the final of the World T20 a year later. His dynamic batting was emblematic of England's one-day reinvention under Morgan, though he also began to demonstrate increased range to his game: when he led England to an extraordinary one-wicket win over Australia at Old Trafford in 2018, his unbeaten 110 from 122 balls was by far the slowest hundred of his career.

While he was in demand on the T20 circuit, playing in the BPL and BBL, Buttler's Test star seemed to be waning. He was briefly recalled for the tour of India in 2016-17 before he began to be overlooked. However, his stellar form for Rajasthan Royals in the 2018 IPL fetched him a Test recall (and a first Test hundred, against India at Trent Bridge), which spanned 39 matches over the next four years.

Buttler was integral to the 50-over side leading into the home World Cup in 2019, and in the tournament he made 103 off 76 balls in a defeat against Pakistan and a quick half-century against Bangladesh. In the final, against New Zealand, he came in with England wobbling at 86 for 4 chasing 242 and kept them alive with 59 in a 110-run stand with Ben Stokes; he then managed seven runs off three balls in the Super Over, and completed the run out of Martin Guptill to win his side the trophy.

In the IPL, Buttler was formidable for Royals, making just over 3000 runs for them in seven seasons starting 2018. At home in the Hundred, he shone particularly bright in the 2023 tournament, when he led Manchester Originals to the final and topped the run-scorers' table with 391 runs, head and shoulders clear of the rest of the field.

Jos Buttler IPL factfile

- Having made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2016, Buttler has become one of the most destructive batters in the tournament over the years.

- Buttler was part of Mumbai Indians' title-winning side in 2017 before being signed by Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2018

- In IPL 2022, Buttler equalled Virat Kohli's record of four centuries in a season. And only Kohli (973) and Shubman Gill (890) have scored more runs in a season than his 863 in 2022.

- He scored two centuries in IPL 2024 even as Rajasthan Royals were knocked out in the playoffs. He was then picked up by Gujarat Titans (GT) for INR 15.25 crore, making him the most expensive overseas buy in the IPL 2025 auction.

- In 2018, Buttler became only the second player after Virender Sehwag to hit five consecutive 50-plus scores in the IPL. David Warner joined the list in 2019.