New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) How much cricket is too much cricket? Jos Buttler says it depends completely on an individual and his ability to at times say “no” to some of the T20 franchise league offers which helps in finding the perfect work-life balance.
Come September, Buttler, one of England’s finest white-ball keeper-batters, will turn 36 but he is still managing his white ball career for England while also plying his trade as a sought-after T20 smasher for the 11th successive season in the cash-rich Indian Premier League.
It will be his second season with Gujarat Titans.
So has he come to a stage where he might have to choose between club and country? “I am just trying to be very immediate actually with my stuff and just be where my feet are. Look at what’s in front of me and play accordingly. Obviously the IPL is the thing right now,” Buttler told PTI during an exclusive interaction ahead of team’s first match against Punjab Kings on Tuesday.
For Buttler, it is important to know what is one’s priority professionally as well as personally and then take an informed call.
“After a period of time, you reflect and say, okay, where am I at with my career? What’s important to me? “Obviously, I only play white-ball cricket for England. So I have a calendar now that I feel like I can manage relatively well,” said Buttler, one of Gujarat Titans’ batting mainstay.
“Alongside the franchise stuff, there are things I’ve turned down to spend time at home because that’s very important to me. I need to maintain energy and relationships and that kind of thing,” the genial T20 World Cup winning former England skipper said.
Right now, there are way too many T20 leagues happening and Buttler thinks that the “onus is also on the players, to be honest, to be disciplined enough to sometimes say no to something.” And saying ‘no’ to a few leagues ain’t that difficult, he reckons, which only helps to attain peak performance in whatever competition one plays.
“It is very easy. There’s so much cricket, there’s so much opportunity. I think as a player, you need to be at the top of your game when you go and give yourself to your team, whether that’s international or franchise.
“So making sure you have enough energy for everything that you’re doing. And that will be independent and individual to certain players.” Managing outside noise is big challenge ========================= While Buttler has seen highs in England shirt, having led them to T20 World Cup triumph at the MCG in 2022, he did have a horrible 2026 edition in India and Sri Lanka tallying a meagre 87 runs in eight games.
He admits that one of the biggest challenges for an international cricketer is to build a safety net around him from the outside chatter.
“Obviously, you need to be playing well technically and mentally. You need to be in a good space with the cricket and work on things. But actually, one of the biggest challenges is dealing with the outside noise.
“And also your own expectation and your own comparisons against what you believe you’re capable of. That’s always the challenge, to not allow that to overshadow playing the game and being free and having the freedom to walk out there with your bat and look to score runs.
“I’ve been playing for a long time now, there’s been different times in my career that you’re learning the same lesson, actually, over and over again.” It is also about the world that we live in currently, feels the player, who has played 57 Tests, 199 ODIs and 154 T20Is for England.
“And it’s a world now where there’s more eyes on the game than there’s ever been. There’s more opinion. So you just have to insulate yourself from that.” For insulation, one does need trustworthy circle of people around one’s self.
“You have a tight-knit circle of people that you trust and you’ll take advice from and you’ll ask for advice from. And then outside of that, it’s just trying to quieten the noise and just play.” Shubman is an authentic human being ======================== For the past two years, Buttler has been with the Titans under Shubman Gill’s leadership and he has thoroughly enjoyed his time under a man, whose biggest hallmark is being “authentic and staying true to his character”.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with Shubhman. He’s very much authentic and himself, which I think is one of the greatest hallmarks of really good leaders,” Buttler couldn’t stop gushing.
“I’m sure he’ll have learned a hell of a lot over the last year, obviously, captaining a few seasons with Gujarat. He’s now captain of India and I’m sure he will have learned lots of different things.
“So I think that’s a credit to him that he’s just his own person. He’s doing it his way. So the captaincy is obviously working well for him and I’m looking forward to playing under his leadership again this year.” As a former international captain, Buttler never hesitates if he feels that he has some inputs for his skipper.
“Communication can work both ways. I’m very happy that the captain comes to me asking for advice to give my opinion. But I’ve always been a person and a player that if I have got something to say and to share, I will say it.
“So I would go and tell Shubhman that this is my idea or this is what I’m seeing and then take it or leave it,” Buttler concluded. PTI KHS KHS APS APS
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