The England batting coach, Mark Ramprakash, has conceded Jos Buttler’s lack of first-class cricket over the past year is “not ideal” and, along with the limitations of recreating match situations on a tour with no practice matches, hopes this will lead to expectations being tempered regarding the Lancashire player’s impact in the third Test.
Buttler has not played a competitive match since captaining the one-day team in Bangladesh more than a month ago and in the 12 months since he was dropped as Test wicketkeeper, a focus on white-ball cricket has meant he has batted in only two County Championship innings, the second of which came as an opener in a run chase, and a solitary outing in England’s red-ball practice in Chittagong where he scored four.
Needs must in India, however, and Ben Duckett is expected to be the fall guy from the batsmen who played in the defeat in Visakhapatnam that leaves Alastair Cook’s side 1-0 down, and follow his fellow left-hander, Gary Ballance, into reserve status. Ramprakash, speaking on a day off for the squad, stopped short of confirming Buttler’s recall but spoke at length of the challenge he would face walking into a series cold.
“Well, you have to deal with it because that’s where we’re at,” Ramprakash said. “Is it ideal? No, not for me, it isn’t ideal. One first-class game [in a year] and I think his last 12 knocks in Test cricket he’s got past 30 once. But the landscape of cricket has changed and to me Jos is in the top-five batsmen in the world in one-day cricket. That almost creates a problem with the amount of first-class cricket he can play.
“If Jos gets the nod we need to be understanding of that. He has clearly so much ability but through lack of opportunity it’s been hard for him to develop and I hope that people realise that and don’t set expectations too high. That’s the situation he’s in and we’ve got to live with that.”
Ramprakash described Buttler’s preparation on this tour as exemplary and compared it to that of an elite athlete but accepted there is a limit to how much simulated match scenarios in the nets can prepare a player, such as the “10-over challenge” during the drawn first Test in Rajkot in which the back-up bowlers Gareth Batty and Jake Ball tested him to stated fields.
How Buttler can be accommodated in the lineup for Mohali continues to be discussed. The England management are wary of disturbing Moeen Ali or Ben Stokes and of Jonny Bairstow’s need for recovery following potentially long stints in the field behind the stumps. Bairstow and Stokes are the most prolific Test partnership in the world this year and moving them apart would be done reluctantly.
Bringing an additional right-hander to combat India’s spinners – Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja and Jayant Yadav – is considered a benefit by Ramprakash. “Left-handers have it tough both ways. The off-spinners [Ashwin and Yadav] are at them with the decision review system and as the game goes on you’ve got a lot of rough for the left-arm spinner [Jadeja] to chuck the ball into as well. I think that makes it quite tough. Tactically, in this part of the world, if another right-hander comes in that may be a slight advantage.”
Overall, Ramprakash is heartened by the four centuries scored by Cook, Joe Root, Moeen and Stokes in Rajkot, and expects the manner of their defeat in Visakhapatnam, bowled out in the fourth innings for 158 in 97.3 overs when attempting a defensive rearguard, not to have a lasting effect.
Asked if confidence had taken a hit, he replied: “It certainly keeps us on our toes. I thought the boys adapted well to the situation and tried their best to stick it out for the team in the context of the game. But I think they will look forward to getting back to playing with more of a mindset of being proactive.”
