"I told him over dinner that I was still not over it. If I could change one thing in the IPL, I would change the rule of releasing players every three years," said an emotional Sanju Samson, recollecting the last seven seasons with the Rajasthan Royals alongside Jos Buttler, his batting partner, his bouncing board and a friend, he found and made in that period. It felt like for a second, Samson's heart had a voice.
Not many expected Rajasthan Royals to leave Buttler out of their retention list but they went in a different direction and once he was left out of the original list, it was always difficult to get someone like him back at the auction with teams having bulging purses and greed to make the best possible rosters for the new cycle. Royals pushed the bid to Rs 9.5 crore before the Gujarat Titans got him for Rs 15.75 crore, which was reflection of Buttler's quality as a player and was bearing fruits of what he did at the Royals for seven seasons.
"Jos Buttler is one of my closest friends. We played together for seven years. During this time, our batting partnership time itself is so long that we got to know each other so well. He has been like an elder brother to me. Whenever I had a doubt, I would talk to him. When I became captain [in 2021], he was my vice-captain and helped me become a good captain," Samson further added. The build-up for IPL 2025 regarding the Royals surrounded more around who wasn't in the squad rather than who actually was...
3,055 runs at an average of 41.84 while striking at 147 including seven centuries and 18 fifties are bop numbers for anyone and anywhere considering there were a couple of seasons in Dubai due to COVID and four seasons in the bubble and Buttler flourished. Buttler treated famed bowling attacks like machines, who bowled to him just to get parked beyond the boundary. He had smashed four centuries in 2022, while scoring 863 runs and played a starring role in the Royals going through to their first final since the title-winning campaign in 2008.
It was an emotional departure but one that left more questions than answers and now both entities will have a point to prove, more so for the Royals if they were right or not leaving Buttler out as his new side Gujarat Titans take on the Men in Pink in a repeat of the 2022 final in Ahmedabad. Buttler seems to be settling in nicely for the Gujarat Titans with a couple of fifties already but Titans is not the only franchise the former England captain has played in the IPL apart from the Royals.
Buttler probably began the English exodus to the IPL or the rather restart of it after the ECB had stopped sending their players to the IPL for a few years. Buttler joined Mumbai Indians in 2016 and played in the middle with decent returns, nothing extraordinary as Buttler the white-ball player was still evolving, at the start of England's renaissance following the 2015 World Cup debacle.
Buttler in MI
It was actually 2017 when Buttler bloomed into the player everyone expected him to be when he was promoted to opening the batting. Buttler was a monster finisher in ODI cricket but in T20s, many felt that his powers weren't getting utilised fully getting only a few balls to play more often than not before Mahela Jayawardene pushed him to open the innings and as they say, the rest is history.
Buttler's strike rate with MI was also closer to 146 but the consistency was missing. Buttler had left the tournament due to national commitments early when his towel-slipping video went viral seeing his side pull off a one-run win in the final against the Rising Pune Supergiant. There might be emotions flying around before the game but come the clock ticking 7:30 PM IST, Buttler will be rival of Samson and the Royals, playing against his former side for the first time in IPL history and the Men in Pink will do everything in their might to get this one on their side. Should be a cracker!