Jos Buttler Is Closest To AB De Villiers, Says Rassie Van Der Dussen
Jos Buttler Is Closest To AB De Villiers, Says Rassie Van Der Dussen
Jos Buttler was recently appointed as England’s limited overs captain following the retirement of Eoin Morgan. He could not win his first match for the team and himself got out for zero. Talking about Eoin Morgan, he led England to the 50-over World Cup title in 2019. The Proteas will first face England in three ODIs and three T20Is before ‘Bazzball’, then will face each other in a three-match Test series in August.
With the Test team providing plenty of thrill in recent weeks, it’s no wonder Buttler wants England’s limited-overs units to harness that sentiment as they prepare to tackle the Proteas. England have a captain in Butler, a naturally attacking batsman, who is in very good form as suggested by his recent exploits in the Indian Premier League and the one-day series against the Netherlands.
Van der Dussen, who shared the change room with Butler at Rajasthan Royals during the IPL, said, “He [Jos Buttler] has reached this stage on his own game.”
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The 31-year-old topped the batting charts from a distance in that tournament, scoring 863 runs with a strike rate of 149.05. He continued with that form when England began the white-ball portion of the season in Amsterdam with an unbeaten 162 off 70 balls in the first ODI against the Netherlands. In the very next match, Jos Buttler again scored 86 * runs in 64 balls.
Van der Dussen said, “He had a platform to play freely in Rajasthan and take the game away (from the opposition) which is what you want as an opener and obviously he has the ability to do that. He’s thr skill and form.”
“In this England team, he is a more influential player than a banker, his role is to take the game forward. He is probably the closest to AB de Villiers that I have seen in the context of an all-rounder game, where he can hit (the ball) around the field with complete freedom.
Will he play with the same kind of freedom now that he is captain is an element the Proteas will be keen to examine. “That being the captain, it is difficult to see how it will affect him. Maybe the captaincy and that responsibility reduce him – we’ll see. Sometimes it’s easier to play a certain way when you have clear instructions… when there’s more responsibility there’s a little more pressure,” Van der Dussen said.