Buttler shelves IPL regrets to signal commitment to new England cause

"That's up in the air," boomed the unmistakable Ravi Shastri. "Straight down the throat of the man at square leg!" Shastri's voice echoed around The Oval, where the IPL final beamed live on the big screens. Designed to keep fans entertained during a rain delay, it only emphasised the contrast with a dead-rubber ODI in soggy south London.

England's players sat in the dressing room, with three IPL returnees among them. When the BCCI announced revised dates for the play-offs following the league's brief suspension, the ECB opted against extending the No-Objection Certificates for players involved in England's ODI squad. For Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks and Jos Buttler, that meant an early return home.

In Ahmedabad, Romario Shepherd was padded up in the dugout. Shepherd, centrally contracted by CWI, was named in West Indies' squad for the series but had his NOC extended by a board on a weaker standing than the ECB. So too did Sherfane Rutherford, who top-scored in his only innings of the series as if to remind West Indies what they had missed when he was in India.

There was never much chance of Bethell or Jacks defying the ECB's directive but for Buttler, the clash must have stung. He has become an IPL great across 10 seasons in the league, but has only once been involved in the play-offs, in 2022 with Rajasthan Royals. He was a champion in 2017 with Mumbai Indians, but watched the final from his sofa after being brought home by the ECB.

Buttler's Gujarat Titans were not involved in the final, but could easily have been if he had stayed for the duration. They were beaten in the Eliminator last week, falling short in the sort of steep run-chase in which Buttler has often thrived: with him at No. 3 throughout the play-offs, they could have locked horns with RCB on Tuesday night.

Instead, Buttler was pulled home for an ODI series notable only for being his first back in the ranks after three years as captain. His successor, Harry Brook, revealed it had been Buttler's idea to use Lime bikes to beat the gridlocked London traffic to reach The Oval; in India, whole cities are shut down if that is what it takes to get IPL teams from their hotels to a stadium.

Yet as Buttler walked off grinning alongside Brook, after a cameo of 41 not out off 20 balls secured a seven-wicket rout, it felt like a significant moment for England's white-ball teams. Here was a new England captain being supported fully by his predecessor, whose availability was proof that he remains committed to a format from which he could easily have walked away.

Buttler has largely left Brook to his own devices as captain, having returned to keeping wicket, though has offered support when prompted. "He's letting me do it my own way, and then I've gone over to him a few times," Brook said. "Having him behind the stumps with that wealth of experience, it's easy to just go up to him and chat, and see what his thoughts are."

In truth, his biggest role in supporting Brook will be with the bat, in the same way that Joe Root's relentless run-scoring in Test cricket has helped Ben Stokes far more than his tactical insight. Buttler knows as much: when he resigned in February, he cited a desire to "follow Joe Root's lead" when addressing his own international future.

"He almost goes until he wants to retire," Brook said, acknowledging that Buttler's achievements as a double World Cup-winner allow him to set his own deadlines as an England player. "He is very well known for being one of the best - if not the best - white-ball players in the world. To see him go out there and crunch the ball as he did tonight was thrilling."

It is easy to risk overstating the pull of the IPL: after all, playing for England is no great sacrifice. Buttler's earning potential in India (his Titans deal is worth Rs 15.75 crore, around £1.4m) owes no small part to his international success, while his lucrative central contract has seen the ECB pay him handsomely for a decade.

That is to say nothing of the prestige that international sport retains, even bilateral series that are largely devoid of context. Buttler would surely not have bothered with this series were he not set on reaching the 2027 50-over World Cup in South Africa, the same tournament that has prompted Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to cling onto ODIs while quitting other formats.

But the stark reality is that this England team needs Buttler more than he needs them, as he heads into a later phase of his international career. His innings on Tuesday night - and a shimmying scoop for six off Alzarri Joseph in particular - hinted at a man liberated by his resignation, and one whose mere presence at The Oval was a statement of his intent.