England opening batsman Jos Buttler, who starred for the visitors in the third T20I against India, said that he went after Yuzvendra Chahal because the spinner might not have expected it considering their past battles.
Buttler came dancing down the track and whacked a six on Chahal’s first ball in the third T20I on Tuesday. The right-handed batsman guided the visitors to an easy win on the back of his sensational 83 off 52 balls.
“I felt it was a great opportunity to try and attack him (Chahal), ball swung a little bit for seamers so I thought the best time to attack spin would be in the powerplay, and probably the fact that he had success against me he might not expect me to attack him,” said Buttler in a virtual press conference after the win
“I felt the right thing to and I was confident to take him on. I took a couple of risks that came off and it set me up on my way,” he added.
The England batsman admitted that reverse sweeping Chahal was on his mind and he might do that in the upcoming games as well.
“Yes, I think so. (On him reverse sweeping Chahal) in certain times. He is a fantastic bowler, he has a lot of success in T20 cricket. I think we naturally have in our side the guys who are good exponents of a reverse sweep,” said Buttler.
“So naturally we are gonna play that shot and it has become a big positive in T20 cricket. You got that in your armory. So it is about guys backing their options and going for that and trying to put pressure back on the bowlers,” he added.
India skipper Virat Kohli played an unbeaten inning of 77 to guide India to 156/6, but the total did not prove to be enough as Buttler and Jonny Bairstow made light work of the chase to hand England a victory by eight wickets. Buttler and Bairstow remained unbeaten on 83 and 40 respectively.
With the win in the third T20I, England has now gained a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. Both teams will now meet in the fourth T20I on Thursday which will be played at the same venue.
