Jos Buttler finally was back amongst the runs on Tuesday. But his 44-ball 70 could only soften the blow a bit for Rajasthan Royals from Mumbai Indians at Abu Dhabi.
Buttler, who was in cracking form for Royals in the last IPL, had failed to get going in the first three games. “I hadn’t been feeling my best in the middle,” the England wicketkeeper-batsman said.
Finding his feet
“I still feel like I am finding my form a bit. It was good for me to have spent some time in the middle.
“Hopefully I can take some confidence from today and use that for the rest of the tournament.”
He said Royals had to sort out the issues at the top of the order. “We haven’t managed to come off as a top-order in the last three games,” he said. “We lost three wickets in the PowerPlay... In T20 cricket, you never win too many games from that position.”
One of the few positives for Royals against Mumbai was Kartik Tyagi, the 19-year-old seamer who made a promising debut. “He is really an exciting talent,” he said. “One thing the IPL always does is unearth fantastic young Indian players.”
Praise for Suryakumar
He was all praise for Suryakumar Yadav, whose unbeaten 79 (47b) laid the foundation for Mumbai’s victory.
“He played a fantastic innings,” said Buttler. “We couldn’t quite tie him down. He used the angles and the crease very well.”
