The Indian Premier League (IPL) experience played a huge role in Jos Buttler's England thrashing India by 10 wickets in the ICC T20 World Cup semifinal at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, with the skipper saying the situations that presented themselves in the lucrative league had prepared them for the global event.
Riding on Buttler's unbeaten 80 and Alex Hales' 86 not out, England made a mockery of India's competitive total of 168/6 in the knockout stage to finish the match with four overs to spare. Butter was part of the Rajasthan Royals team that finished runners-up in the IPL this season, losing to Gujarat Titans.
On Thursday, after securing a title clash with Pakistan whom they beat in the seven-match T20I series just before the T20 World Cup Buttler said, "I think we have quite a lot of IPL experience in our team, as well, which means situations like tonight don't surprise you. We've played in India a lot, understand the noise that comes with the fans of Indian cricket, especially when certain guys walk onto the field or when they're batting and the impact they can have."
Buttler shared an unbeaten opening stand of 170 that led England to the massive win and the England skipper's contribution came as no surprise to watching Indian fans after his displays in the IPL, where he emerged the highest run-getter of the 2022 season.
Buttler's overall record in the IPL is strong. But his incredible returns in the 2022 edition of the tournament were a warning of what was to come for India's bowlers. Earlier this year Buttler smashed 863 runs in 17 matches for the Rajasthan Royals, helping them to the final.
Those runs came at an average of 57.63 and a strike rate of 149.05, with the England captain smashing four centuries along the way.The 32-year-old believes his own individual IPL experience wasn't the only thing that aided England in their semi-final.
With the scoring rate rocketing during England's chase, India all-rounder Hardik Pandya and former captain Virat Kohli looked for crowd support to build pressure on their opponents but to no avail.Buttler, however, said it actually gave him more confidence.
"If he (Pandya) goes to try and get the crowd behind you, that's telling you that you're doing well. I think we have quite a lot of IPL experience in our team, as well, which means situations like tonight don't surprise you.
"We've played in India a lot, understand the noise that comes with the fans of Indian cricket, especially when certain guys walk onto the field or when they're batting and the impact they can have. But having had so much experience as a team playing in the IPL, I don't think it's as much of a factor anymore."