Warne also lauded Woakes for his match-winning batting effort.
Australian spin legend and cricket commentator Shane Warne has heaped praise on England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler after his heroics helped the hosts escape from a defeat in the opening Test of the three-match series against Pakistan on Saturday (August 8).
Buttler scored 38 in the first innings and then struck a brilliant 75 as well as shared a century-plus stand with Chris Woakes (84) to help England recover from 117-5 to chase down record 277 to register a 3-wicket win over Pakistan in the first Test to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series at Old Trafford.
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Following Buttler’s match-winning display, Warne said the wicketkeeper-batsman should always be a part of the English Test squad while hailing his keeping skills.
Warne told Sky Sports: “He should always be in the side. Jos is a very good and reliable keeper but, occasionally, you're going to have a few bad days - it wasn't easy out there, either. But Jos should always be in your side because of what he's capable of, with the bat especially.”
He further added, “And then his keeping, he's a good leader among the team as well - there's a calmness about him - he's the whole package. He's always one of the first penciled in for me.”
The Australian great was highly impressed with Buttler's confident attitude at the crease, saying: “What really impressed me with Buttler was the way he went about it, he trusted himself, said 'I'm the man, I'm going to get this done'. He just played beautifully; and that helped Woakes at the other end, who had been struggling for form, but came in and played extremely well.”
Warne signed off by saying, “I'm very happy for Woakes and, in particular, Buttler. It was a fantastic chase, against a quality attack, on a good pitch. It's a special win and one the players will be very proud of. The best thing I saw from England is it was a real 'character' win.”
(With Sky Sports Inputs)