Jos Buttler picks his all-time IPL XI
England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has always been a star attraction in the Indian Premier League (IPL) ever since he has started featuring in the tournament. He made his IPL debut in 2016 as Mumbai Indians picked him and then Rajasthan Royals secured his services in the mega auction ahead of IPL 2018. Buttler has been terrific, to say the least, so far in the T20 extravaganza and has played some of the best knocks.
Having played in almost six seasons of IPL, the 30-year-old picked his all-time XI of the tournament. Jos Buttler picked himself as one of the openers along with Rohit Sharma. He certainly qualifies to take a slot at the top of the order given his record in the T20 format. Buttler has amassed 1968 runs in 64 innings in IPL at a brilliant strike-rate of 150 while Rohit’s record is well-known to everyone.
Then comes a star-studded middle-order with Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and MS Dhoni to follow. The current Indian captain is the highest run-scorer in the IPL while De Villiers has more than 5000 runs in the league and is known for some exceptional 360 degree hitting at any stage of the innings. Jos Buttler idolises MS Dhoni for his antics in the league and it is no surprise that the latter is the wicketkeeper of his team which he picked on Cricbuzz Plus.
Bumrah and Malinga to pair up with the ball
Kieron Pollard and Ravindra Jadeja are the all-rounders in this XI and both of them are excellent fielders as well along with being brilliant finishers. Potentially, in the top seven, there are four finishers which makes this team extremely dangerous with the bat. The only surprising thing about this line-up is the absence of Suresh Raina who is known as Mr IPL and is the second highest run-getter as well.
The pace bowling attack of Jos Buttler’s IPL XI comprises of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Lasith Malinga. This trio can take the new ball upfront and swing it and later the death overs seem sorted as well. Apart from Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh is the only other spinner in the line-up who has immense experience and has also accounted for more than 150 wickets in IPL.
Here’s Jos Buttler’s all-time IPL XI: Jos Buttler, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni (WK), Kieron Pollard, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga.