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Former Sri Lanka cricketer Kumar Sangakkara has expressed that England wicket-keeper and explosive batter Jos Buttler should open the innings in the Test match formats for the Three Lions. While speaking during the broadcast of the third Test match between England and New Zealand, Sangakkara compared Buttler’s play style to opening batters like India’s Virender Sehwag and Australian Mathew Hayden.
Both these players were extremely explosive batters who were not touted to be successful in the longest format of the sport. But they turned their so-called weaknesses into their strength as they scored a lot of runs and had long careers.
Kumar Sangakkara was quoted as saying, "I'd really look at him to open the innings in Test cricket. We have always talked about him batting at seven, batting with the tail. We have seen Sehwag, Hayden, all of them opening the innings - why not Buttler."
It is hard to describe what he has done for us this season in terms of T20 batting: Sangakkara
Buttler and Kumar Sangakkara worked together in the recent 2022 IPL in the Rajasthan Royals. The 2008 Champions reached the finals of the tournament but failed to win the trophy. But the Englishman had a dream season where he smashed 863 runs and won the Orange Cap. Sangakkara had also praised Buttler for his performance in the league and said, "It is hard to describe what he has done for us this season in terms of T20 batting.”
“He started off so well, he had a little bit of flutter at one point in the tournament, but then you know he calmed himself down and had a lot of good conversations rather than just training. He accepted that he is a mortal, he is a human and he can't be at that high level of excellence every single day,” he added.
“And to understand how you kind of reach that level every game at different stages, somedays you have to fight and look ugly, other days your rhythm is there and the reality is that you cannot fight the condition, you just have to settle into it and build the innings. He can accelerate at any point; he has got all the strokes. He is a lovely guy and he understands the game really well. I cannot remember anyone batting this well in the history of the IPL,” the 44-year-old stated.