ICC T20 World Cup 2022 semis, IND vs ENG: 'SKY has been the batter of the tournament' - Buttler

An open mindset has allowed Suryakumar Yadav to arise as the "batter of the tournament", but it takes "one chance to create a wicket", spoke England skipper Jos Buttler ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final versus India at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday. Suryakumar has already scratched three half-centuries in five matches in the event, and the widespread view is that he has exceeded the superb Virat Kohli in some instances.

"He's [Surya] been great to watch, hasn't he? I think he's probably the batter of the tournament so far in terms of how you want to watch someone go about it. But, as with any batsman, it takes one chance to create a wicket. We desperately need to find a way to do that," Buttler told the media on Wednesday.

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Buttler, who has witnessed Suryakumar from close quarters in the Indian Premier League (IPL), considers that his most significant investment is the latitude with which he describes himself. "His biggest strength looks to be the amount of freedom he plays with. He's got all the shots, but he allows himself to play all the shots, as well. He's got a very free mindset," the England skipper stated.

While honouring Suryakumar, Buttler didn't ignore that his team couldn't afford to think about him. "It would be remiss to think about him. I think they also have some other excellent players," he noted.

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On being Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 'bunny"
It is not a desirable statistic, but Buttler has been dismissed five times in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) by Indian seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has given away only 30 runs off his 32 deliveries to the English captain. However, Buttler appeared convinced ahead of his face-off with Bhuvneshwar in Adelaide. "I certainly don't fear anyone. I always prepare well, and I look to play the ball in front of me, not the bowler," he said.

Adelaide dimensions will always warrant change in tactic
The Adelaide Oval has shorter side boundaries, and Buttler communicated England would require to modify its tactics slightly. "Yeah, obviously, tactically, it may be a bit different. The dimensions and the surface we play on obviously impact the way you bat and bowl on those surfaces, so we've done some good things," he enunciated.

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"We have guys who have played at Adelaide before, and we go into the game with some good ideas, and we react well on our feet when we have to," he added. There have been talks about the match being played on a used pitch. However, Buttler didn't have many concerns about that.

"I think, having talked to the groundsman, his team is confident that he has had a lot of time to put some excellent work into the wicket. He [the groundsman] seems very comfortable that it will be a perfect and consistent surface. At the moment, I have no worries about the pitch," the vivid keeper-batter said.

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The Indian side hasn't lost its aura
Buttler outrightly disregarded the hypothesis that India no longer looks like the challenging side that it used to be. "No, not at all. India is a very, very strong team. I think Indian groups have been consistently strong for an extended period, and naturally so with the amount of depth and talent in the Indian game. We certainly don't want to see an India-Pakistan final, so we'll be trying to ensure that doesn't happen," he refined.

Not interested in par score, but winning score
While 165 has been the par score in Adelaide for sides batting first, Buttler doesn't want to trust numbers solely. "If we set first, we want to post a score that can't be chased, and obviously, we'll be confident of chasing anything down batting second. Historically, I think if you look at the stats, it shows about 165 is around the par score here, but I'm not interested in a par score. I'm interested in a winning score tomorrow," he concluded.

(With inputs from PTI)