Jos Buttler was named the Player-of-the-Match for his magnificent knock of 106*(60) against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad in the second qualifier of the IPL 2022, which helped Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeat RCB by 7 wickets, with 11 balls to spare.
The star England cricketer has been in exceptional form in this edition of the IPL. During his fiery knock against the red army on Friday (May 27), Buttler became the second batter after RCB’s Virat Kohli to score 4 tons in an IPL season. He also achieved the third position after Kohli and David Warner to go past 800 runs in a season.
Jos Buttler is certainly taking the Orange Cap home this season, but he will be dead set on giving his best to lift the second IPL title for the Royals. Rajasthan won the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League in 2008 under the leadership of legendary cricketer Shane Warne who passed away this March due to a heart attack.
Paying a heartfelt tribute to Shane Warne after securing a place in the finals, Buttler told Star Sports, "Great excitement to be able to play in the final of the biggest T20 tournament in the world.. it's incredibly exciting. Shane Warne has been such an influential figure for Rajasthan Royals and having led the team to the title in the first season. We will miss him dearly but we know he is looking down on us with a lot of pride today."
Jos Buttler has had an amazing season in IPL 2022, collecting 824 runs in 16 matches at an astonishing average of 58.86. In Qualifier 1 against GT, his 89 off 56 helped the Royals put up a decent total to fight for, while his three-digit score in Qualifier 2 helped them crush RCB, reaching the IPL 2022 finals.
The 31-year-old wicketkeeper-batter said that he had started off the league with low expectations but, but never lacked the energy to give his best on the field.
"I came to the season with very low expectations but a lot of energy. It is very exciting to stand in the final. I had a season of two halves, and had very honest conversations with people really close to me. I was feeling the pressure midway, and it was only about a week ago that I opened up about it. It helped me and I went to Kolkata with a freer mind," he said.
RR is all set to take on the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL 2022 finals on 29th May at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
(Star Sports inputs)
