Jos Buttler of Gujarat Titans (GT) has joined the growing list of players who are not in favor of the impact player rule in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Buttler, one of the best overseas players in the IPL, has stated that being a traditionalist, he likes cricket being an 11-a-side game instead of 12.

His words came ahead of the IPL 2026 tournament, which begins on March 28, 2026, in Bengaluru with the defending champions RCB taking on SRH.

This regulation, which permits teams to have an extra batter and bowler during their batting and fielding innings, will be in effect for the fourth time in the 19th T20 competition. Having an edge, however, is insufficient justification for this rule to be accepted by captains throughout the competition.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were some of the major names to criticize this rule, and recently, GT captain Shubman Gill and DC captain Axar Patel joined the chorus as well.

On Saturday, Gill's Gujarat Titans teammate Jos Buttler backed his IPL captain's stance, saying the regulation undermines the sport's fundamentals. With this remark, the former England captain became the latest player to express dissatisfaction with the impact player rule.

“I think it does play around with the fundamentals of the game. Cricket's been 11-a-side for so long, and being a bit of a traditionalist, I kind of like that, because it makes the value of all-rounders even more important. It makes the captains more important, being able to play the game with 11. With that being said, the impact rule has given more players more opportunities. It's thrown a different dynamic, a different talking point into the game, which you always need to add at different times,” Buttler said while replying to a Hindustan Times query.

“So, it's certainly done that, and it's been different. But I like the game as an 11-a-side game, so I would lean towards that,” he added.

Jos Buttler will be looking for some form as he failed to have an impact for England in the recent T20 World Cup 2022, where he performed below par. In the eight matches he played in the tournament, the right-handed batter managed just 87 runs, with his highest score being 26 against Nepal.

Buttler understands the pressure of the game, stating he gave it his all during the tournament, but it wasn't meant to be.

“I tried hard to put a lot of effort into that World Cup, and for a multitude of reasons, probably it just didn't quite work out, and actually having the capacity and discipline to just say that's okay, you know what, I tried hard at their game, and there are elements of things that I can't control and everyone else is trying to do well as well, so it just didn't quite work out,” said Buttler.

“Being a 35-year-old player, 15 years of times where I've had good form, I've had bad form, I've had tournaments that went really well, and I've had tournaments that didn't go to plan, so you're always trying to reflect self-analysis, but pinpointing one thing, I don't think there's actually; if there was that one secret, then I think we'd all know it and we'd all score runs every time, but I don't think that exists, so it's just I've had a bit of space from the game, which I've really enjoyed and I've reflected on. Whether I've scored runs or not, the challenge is the same thing for me: to go to practice with energy and optimism, prepare well, and then go to the game and take it from there,” he added.

Jos Buttler also talked about working with Australia legend Matthew Hayden, who has joined the Gujarat titans as their batting coach.

“The IPL has been the biggest influence on my cricket career. Some of the lessons that I've learned during IPL season, some of the interactions I've had, and some of the people I've had the pleasure of getting to meet and work with as coaches and players. And not just in the IPL; some of the conversations I've taken from the IPL have served me well when playing for England in Test cricket, T20 cricket, and 50-over cricket. So this had a huge impact.

Been here for three or four days, and getting to talk to Matthew Hayden about batting, I wouldn't get that opportunity probably otherwise,” Buttler concluded.

GT will begin their IPL 2026 on March 31 against the Punjab Kings in New Chandigarh.