Jos Buttler has credited his sessions with former Australian opener Matthew Hayden and his choice to take a break from the game for his return to form following his difficulties in the T20 World Cup.
Gujarat Titans defeated Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL clash in Lucknow on Sunday thanks to a strong bowling performance spearheaded by seamer Prasidh Krishna, followed by half-centuries from Buttler and Shubman Gill.
During the presentation ceremony, Player of the Match Buttler was questioned regarding his sessions with Hayden.
“He just asked actually one of the first few sessions, how well are you watching the ball? It doesn’t look like you’re tracking it that well. So, you know, great players like him with the most simple advice, which is nice. And yeah, he’s been great,” PTI quoted Buttler as saying.
“I’ve really enjoyed spending time with him. Obviously, he’s got a big presence and that aura. So when he speaks, you listen,” the Englishman added.
Buttler’s poor performance in the 2026 T20 World Cup—87 runs in eight innings—led to England’s elimination.
“Yeah, it’s been around for a while. And yeah, nice to be back scoring runs. Obviously had a bit of a lean patch in the last few months. So nice to find some form and contribute to another win. I actually had a little bit of space from the game and time to just kind of think. And it sort of just came to me,” Buttler said.
“I’ve just been focusing a lot in the weeks I’ve been here on my setup and my basics. I think a few technical issues maybe crept into my game, which actually allowed me not really seeing the ball that well.
“So it’s a hard game if you’re not picking up the ball well. So I’ve just been focusing on everything pre delivery and then backing that. As I said, I’ve played for 15 years. I’ll know what to do when I get in.”
He claimed that his family’s presence was also beneficial.
“Obviously, you know, the cricket is high intensity and it’s busy. So it’s nice to have them here and distractions away from the game and getting, you know, spend time with them.”
After restricting LSG to 164/8, GT captain Gill was also in his elements, scoring 56 off 40 balls as his team won for the second time in a row.
“The way we bowled in the powerplay was very impressive and how we kept up the pressure in the middle overs was tremendous,” Gill said.
Gill had nothing but praise for his bowlers.
On Rashid Khan, he said, “Makes my life very easy, the way Rashid is bowling at the moment. Getting us back in the game every time another bowler is under pressure.”
Speaking about Mohammed Siraj, Gill said, “I think in the first six overs it’s very difficult to do the simple things so it’s important to come back and think what are the simple things I can do in the moment and I think in this match he did that really well. That got us back in the game, the way Siraj bowled.
“And even KG (Kagiso Rabada), he went for runs but he was spot on with the lengths.”
Asked about the surface, he said, “Yeah it wasn’t easy to bat on. I feel we gave a few extra runs towards the end but we would have taken that score.”
