Jos Buttler wants to follow "consistent" Virat Kohli’s footsteps

The England wicketkeeper batsman is currently gearing up for another IPL stint with Rajasthan Royals.

Jos Buttler | Getty

When it comes to batsmanship across all three formats, India skipper Virat Kohli is no less than a monster. Virat has scored 41 one-day international hundreds – only behind his batting hero Sachin Tendulkar (49) with 25 of them in run-chases.

Kohli is the only batsman in world cricket to average more than 50 in all three formats. Recently, the Indian captain created history by becoming the first player to clinch the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, the ICC Men’s Test Player of the Year and the ICC ODI Player of the Year awards in the same year.

Virat sealed all three major ICC awards following an extraordinary 2018 in which he scored 1,322 Test runs at an average of 55.08 in 13 matches with five tons and 1202 ODI runs at an astonishing average of 133.55 in 14 games including six centuries. The Indian skipper also piled up 211 runs in 10 T20Is during the last calendar year.

Considering his consistency and batting prowess, England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler recently expressed his desire to emulate Virat Kohli.

"I know I can go to another level," Jos Buttler was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk.

"Why couldn't you just stay at peak level? Someone like Kohli scores a hundred every game, he doesn't settle for: "Ah, that was ok, I'll peak at some point." Just do it every day. That's the sort of mindset I've been wanting to hit," he further said.

Buttler is now gearing up for another IPL stint with Rajasthan Royals. During the last year’s IPL, he was in his zone and played some great knocks which helped him to receive a national Test call-up. Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Liam Livingstone will join him in the Royals camp as well.

With Barbados-born Archer set to come into the World Cup selection reckoning for England, Buttler is excited to share the dressing room with the pacer at Rajasthan Royals.

“I think it would be great to have him, and I'm happy he's in my team at the IPL," said Buttler. "He's got that X-Factor. A guy like him is going to be part of the conversation, isn't he?

“At the end of the T20s in the West Indies, Trevor Bayliss spoke about how well people have responded to the talk about Jofra, and put in some great performances. That's something that has naturally been happening in the squad and around English cricket for a while.

Talking about England being deemed as World Cup favorites by masses, Buttler said: “I think it is good to be World Cup favourites. It means you've been doing some good stuff. You need to stick to what you've been doing, and one of those things has been pushing boundaries. That is something we have to make sure we're doing every day going into the World Cup.” 

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 19 Mar, 2019

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