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All the top cricket teams are in the final stages of preparation for the 2022 T20 World Cup, which starts later this month. Among the teams which are likely frontrunners for the title, England are in top form. The Jos Buttler-led team is currently touring Australia and defeated the hosts by eight runs on Sunday. Buttler is back in his all-action role as captain, opening batsman and wicketkeeper as power-packed England prepare to launch their bid for Twenty20 World Cup glory. The white ball star missed his side’s recent 4-3 series win in Pakistan with a calf injury and in his absence Alex Hales and Phil Salt impressed at the top of the batting order, with Salt taking the gloves.
However, in the T20I win against Australia, Buttler scored 68 off just 32 balls. He definitely looks in prime form for the T20 World Cup. In a recent training session, Buttler turned heads as he batted left-handed against Ben Stokes.
Watch: Jos Buttler Turns Left-Handed
Ben Stokes bowls to England left-handed opener Jos Buttler. #AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/NLtmRDINdh
— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) October 11, 2022
In the first T20I, the 32-year-old opened alongside Hales and smacked 68 off 32 balls as England defeated the World Cup hosts and holders by eight runs in Perth. Buttler and Test captain Ben Stokes, who was not in the squad in Pakistan, will boost an already strong batting line-up, with all-rounder Liam Livingstone and “death-overs” specialist Chris Jordan also added into the mix.
Buttler, who succeeded Eoin Morgan as England’s white-ball captain earlier this year, is hoping to lead the reigning 50-over world champions to just their second T20 triumph, 12 years after their first.
England’s Test team have sparkled in recent months under Stokes but Buttler and new white-ball coach Matthew Mott have found success harder to come by, even though they are ranked second in T20 cricket.
England lost T20 and one-day international series against India in July before drawing an ODI series against South Africa and then suffering a defeat at the hands of the Proteas in the subsequent T20 series. Those results led to questions over whether Buttler, a member of England’s winning team in the 50-over World Cup in 2019, was being asked to juggle too many roles.
That debate intensified in Pakistan, where the recalled Hales and Salt both made their mark after England had dropped struggling opener Jason Roy from the squad.
The emergence of Harry Brook at number five in Pakistan — he was England’s leading run-scorer on tour with 238 runs at a strike-rate of 163 — also complicated the debate about where all-rounder Stokes will fit in the side.
Promoted
But Buttler has made it clear that he wants Stokes to bat as high up the order as possible and he was sent in at number three against Australia, who are in England’s Super 12 group at the tournament.
(With AFP inputs)
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