The Jos Buttler show - made in Kolkata, premiering in Ahmedabad
Think about this hypothetically. There is a job you dearly want and you have done everything in your power to ensure it materializes the way you want it to. Preparation? Check. Last minute changes? Check. A full rehearsal of the job interview? Check.
But then, when the day of reckoning comes along, something does not feel right. The first couple of questions are answered emphatically – almost in a manner that makes you feel everything is going to be alright. There is still a bit of scepticism, though. And as the moments tick along, you start reliving your worst fears.
You seem to know the answer to every question posed. For some reason, however, you are not able to formulate it. The interviewer you knew from before is trying to get you back into your groove. But that doesn’t work either. You run from pillar to post (metaphorically), yet that doesn’t give you what you are looking for.
All of a sudden, though, something seems to change. The room, which felt like it would eat you alive, feels a little more comfortable. The sweat on your palm dries up and you finally earn a slice of luck. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, you start feeling that things can’t get any worse. And everything clicks.
This might seem like a bit of a deviation from what we are about to engage ourselves in. You might even ask why a job interview and its perils are being discussed when talking about the IPL. In life, though, almost everything is connected – that one question you failed to answer, that one boundary you got away, or as Jos Buttler would testify, that one innings where he wasn’t at his best but still managed to score.
In the larger scheme of things, Buttler’s knock against the Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 didn’t quite have the desired impact. He ended up with a healthy strike-rate but the sticky phase in the middle overs meant that he couldn’t maximise his potential. There were even queries in the commentary box around whether Buttler should tactically retire out.
So, when the Rajasthan Royals entered the last-chance saloon against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Buttler had plenty on his plate. Not only did he have to figure out a better way to utilize the tools at his disposal, he also had to vanquish the ghosts of Eden Gardens.
Under ordinary circumstances, an opener would have taken time and would have ensured that he didn’t throw his wicket away. But the Englishman, at this stage, is anything but an ordinary cricketer. Rather than scratching his way back into touch, he opened up his shoulders and threw caution to the wind. Against an RCB bowling attack that was pretty strong. And in a must-win clash for RR.
That alone tells you a lot about Buttler. He could have retreated into his shell. But he didn’t. He fought fire with fire and showed to the world that this is perhaps what the T20 game is all about.
This article, in isolation, isn’t about what Buttler accomplished against RCB. It’s about how he showed the character and the gumption to turn things around, despite what happened against the Titans.
The bat first, ‘calculated’ Buttler is nice, but the chasing madman, ‘everything must go’ Buttler is the best
It was, if anything, a brazen proclamation that he didn’t get things right on Tuesday but that he would get it right on Friday. There was intent. There were his usual belligerent strokes. There was a brash portrayal of stroke-play. Literally everything you could ask for in such a situation.
Buttler buried the demons of Eden Gardens emphatically
Just a few days ago, the stage was set. The red carpet had been rolled out. Thousands had flocked into Eden Gardens. RR were up against GT. And when the coin landed in the Titans’ favour and they inserted RR into bat, the entire narrative became about one man – Buttler.
He started off in sprightly fashion too, unfurling three sumptuous cover drives against Mohammad Shami. But then, as it happens in almost every walk of life, the purest form of batting was followed by a much murkier and scratchier phase.
For much of that duration, it felt like Buttler was anything but a top-level opener. You could have even wondered if he had the requisite ability and the temperament to consistently feature in the IPL and single-handedly win games of cricket.
With the Englishman, though, most of that scepticism usually counts for nothing. Against the Titans, Buttler portrayed that tendency briefly. But against RCB, it was turned up a notch – to such an extent that it made thousands at the ground believe that after every dreary night, the sun does rise in the morning.
On occasions, it could take longer. On some other instances, it may take so long that you actually query if it will ever happen. But most times, the proverbial rising of the sun will bury whatever ghosts have been encountered a night ago.
Cricket, quite often, has been the ultimate sporting theatre. It is a grand stage where countless narratives come to fruition. It also, at the cost of sounding clichéd, provides people with clarity on how similar sport is to life. In these past few days, Buttler has proved it.
RR @rajasthanroyals make it to the #iplfinal after 14 years. @josbuttler
has been a treat to watch. Great achievement. The better team reached the finals.
#RCBvsRR #ipl2022
In two play-off games, he has nearly scored 200 runs and has been dismissed only once – that too while chasing a lost cause on the final delivery. On one of those occasions, he swung like a rusty gate and abandoned almost every philosophy that has made him who he is. But on another instance, he was in his element – carving, creaming, caressing, crunching and clobbering the ball to all parts.
For a lot of cricketers, these verbs can’t even be used in the same sentence. For Buttler, it seems like it was always intended to be this way. The debate around whether he is the best T20 batter on the planet is not even a debate anymore.
When Buttler strides out to bat in T20 cricket, it is a story in itself – a story that is self-sustainable. And of course, a story that keeps finding ways to repeat itself, irrespective of the circumstances, and irrespective of whether you are battling for supremacy on a cricket field or bracing yourself for a tough job interview.
This particular story began brewing in Kolkata a few days ago. And, by the looks of it, has just started premiering in Ahmedabad.
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