Buttler proves his point

 Jos Buttler took another step towards shedding his image of a limited-overs specialist with a 137-ball 76 that went a long way in helping England post only their second 300-plus total, after 537 all out in Rajkot, in six completed innings.

Buttler, who has long been stereotyped as a T20 specialist, wasn’t first-choice batsman for England in this series but after Ben Cutting appeared to be going nowhere, the Somerset wicketkeeper-batsman was included for the Mohali Test where he scored 43 and 18. On the day, Buttler brought up sixth half-century which also is his second highest score in Tests as England finished at 400 all out.   

“I don't feel like it mattered to me at all,” said Buttler when asked about his lack of practice with red-ball. “Probably, the best thing for me is having not played any (red-ball) cricket for a year, and having some time to think about my game. We play so much cricket that sometimes there isn't enough time to think, break down your game and (work out) what is vital to me to get the best out of myself. I feel like the last year I've probably learned the most about myself and about cricket in my whole career,” he offered.
Buttler felt it was satisfying to get runs when the team needed it the most.

“It's very pleasing and really satisfying to get runs when you feel like the team needs them. I really enjoyed getting us up to what we feel is a good score to have on the board. It (the innings) was against quality bowlers, in their conditions.”

Notwithstanding India’s spirited reply (146/1), Buttler thought England had reason to be hopeful of a positive result from the match.

“Yes, of course,” he said when asked if the tourists were still optimistic. “Getting up to 400 does that for us. The two guys there played very well for India, but still (there is) a lead of 250. When the game can accelerate, in this part of the world, we can be a bit better and more consistent. When we build that pressure, there are definitely wicket-taking balls in that surface,” he explained.

Buttler, who played for Mumbai Indians in this year’s IPL, felt England bowlers needed to be more consistent. “For periods, we bowled tight and put pressure on the Indian batsmen, but they played some good shots. I think when we get home tonight we can probably think 'yes, we need to be a bit more consistent'. When you get a string of dot-balls, that seems to be when things happen,” he reasoned.