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Rajasthan Royals opener Jos Buttler is in the form of his life in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season. He already has three centuries, and two of them came in back to back matches against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Capitals (DC) respectively. Therefore, the Englishman is on top of the Orange Cap standings with 491 runs to his name.
Buttler recently opened up about his purple patch in the ongoing season and credited advice given by former Pakistan cricketer Mushtaq Ahmed, who helped turn his weaknesses into his strengths. “Mushtaq Ahmed always told me to hit on the off-side first and then come around to the leg-side. If you are looking only on the leg-side, you will never hit the ball on the off-side,” Buttler said as quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
The 31-year-old has averaged 81.83 from seven matches this season, and also played a crucial role in ensuring that the Royals are on third on the points table. The 2008 champions have five wins in seven matches with 10 points to their tally at a net run rate of +0.432.
If Buttler hits another century, he would equal Virat Kohli’s four tons in a single edition of the tournament. Kohli also has the record for the most runs in a season, when he scored 973 runs during the 2017 season.
Their next match is against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and the Englishman will attempt to score another century, for a third straight time at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Tuesday, April 26. This will act as the perfect revenge given that RR were defeated by the same opponents in the reverse fixture.
Meanwhile, RCB will be looking to come back from a debilitating loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their last match, while their talisman Kohli will hope to use the opportunity to return to form as well.
