Jos Buttler hopes to draw inspiration from Rishabh Pant's exploits in Australia ahead of the Ashes series
England keeper-batsman Jos Buttler hopes to emulate India's Rishabh Pant's heroics in Australia in the upcoming Ashes series Down Under. Jos Buttler, initially doubtful for the Ashes tour, will now be England's first-choice gloveman.
Rishabh Pant played a significant role in India's two Test series wins over Australia. The southpaw crafted game-changing and counter-attacking knocks to put Australia's esteemed bowling attack under pressure. Buttler hopes to do the same as England aim to regain the urn.
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Writing in his column for The Telegraph, Jos Buttler said he loved watching Pant in Australia, observing his fearlessness and taking calculated risks. Citing his desire to translate his white-ball form into red-ball cricket, the 31-year-old wrote:
"One player I really enjoyed seeing play Tests in Australia was Rishabh Pant, when they won there last winter. I love the way he can change his game between the defensive side and aggressive sides, and be totally fearless. I'll be trying to take the same sort of fearless attitude I've had in the T20 World Cup into my red ball batting."
He added:
"That doesn't just mean all out attack. But it's taking away the worries about too many things - keep the game very simple and looking to put bat to ball."
Pant's role was telling in India's win this year when he played two of the greatest knocks in Sydney and Brisbane in the last two Tests. The 23-year-old and the tourists garnered praise worldwide as an understrength visiting team clinched a historical series.
"I spent my last few days in Dubai trying not to think about cricket very much" - Jos Buttler
Speaking of England's stunning semi-final exit in the 2021 T20 World Cup semi-final, Buttler revealed the entire camp wasn't in the right space. He said:
"I spent my last few days in Dubai trying not to think about cricket very much - we came here with high hopes and expectations and fell short of where we wanted to get to, so we were quite flat."
England were among the favorites to lift the trophy and had a consistent run until the semi-finals. However, they lost to New Zealand in a close encounter in the knockouts. Buttler was England's standout performer with the bat, scoring 269 runs in six games at 89.66 average with one hundred and a fifty.