Jos Buttler turns 33: A look at career, accomplishments of England’s T20 World Cup winning captain

New Delhi [India], September 8 (ANI): England’s current white-ball skipper and T20 World Cup-winning captain Jos Buttler turned 33 on Friday. 

Since his international debut in 2011, Buttler has been a mainstay of the England cricket team, especially in both white-ball formats and has impressed everyone with his attacking abilities and leadership. The calm in his voice and head is in sharp contrast with his destructive hitting, but this combination has contributed to many victories for England. 

He has played 57 Tests for England. In these, he has scored 2,907 runs at an average of 31.94. Buttler has two centuries and 18 fifties to his name in this format, with the best score of 152.

Buttler has represented England in 165 ODIs, scoring 4,647 runs at an average of 41.49 in 138 innings. He has scored 11 centuries and 24 fifties in the 50-over format, with the best score of 162*. He is England’s sixth-highest scorer in ODI cricket, with WC-winning skipper Eoin Morgan being the first with 6,957 runs. 

The finest moment of Buttler’s cricketing career came in 2019, when he became part of the side which won England its first-ever ICC Cricket World Cup. What makes this win even more special is that it happened at home. Buttler was one of the stars of the tournament, scoring 312 runs at an average of 34.66, with one century and two fifties. This included a match-winning 59 in the final against New Zealand. 

In 109 T20I matches, Buttler has scored 2,766 runs at an average of 35.01 and a strike rate of over 144. He has scored a century and 20 fifties in 100 innings, with the best score of 101*. He is England’s leading run-scorer in T20I cricket and overall is at number nine, with India’s Virat Kohli at the top with 4,008 runs in 115 matches. 

Buttler led England to the ICC T20 World Cup title win, their second title win, last year. He was England’s top run-scorer in the campaign and overall fourth, with 225 runs in six innings at an average of 45.00, with two half-centuries and the best score of 80* and a strike rate of over 144. 

He is the seventh-highest run-scorer of all time in T20 WC history, scoring 799 runs in 27 matches at an average of 42.05 and an SR above 144, with one century and four fifties. He is England’s leading run-scorer in tournament history. 

With 10,320 runs in 331 international matches at an average of 36.59 with 14 centuries and 62 fifties, he is England’s 11th-highest run-scorer in international cricket. 

The batter has represented Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In 96 IPL matches, he has scored 3,223 runs at an average of 37.92, with five centuries and 19 fifties in his career, with the best score of 124. 

Though he won IPL 2017 with MI in 2017 and scored 272 runs in that season in 10 games with a fifty, Jos’s defining moment came in 2022 when he won the Orange Cap with RR and was a part of the runners-up team. In 17 matches, he scored 863 runs at an average of 57.53 and a strike rate of 149.05, with four centuries and four fifties. He has the record of joint-highest centuries in a single IPL season, tied with Virat Kohli, who scored four centuries in 2016. He has also scored third-highest amount of runs in a single IPL season. 

If England are to defend their WC title in 2023, Buttler will have to click well for England.