On May 2nd 2021, Joss Buttler hit his maiden century in the IPL off just 56 balls. Playing against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he scored 124 (64) which helped his team put up a huge total of 220 which later on was too much for the opponent to chase and hence won the match by 55 runs.

With the T20 World Cup happening this year, England is surely one of the contenders to win the cup. The evidence of which we saw in the recently concluded T20 series against India that went down to the wire. Joss Buttler is surely going to be the key for them, from whom they would want fiery starts.

From an Indian point of view, let's have a look at how he plays pace & spin.

Overall Record :

When we look at his overall numbers, it seems that he is a bit weaker against Spin than Pace. Against Pace he has an Average of 42.1 and Strike Rate of 164.4 but against Spin his Average is 40.9 & Strike Rate is 134. There may not be enough drop in average but his Strike Rate against Spin is quite low when compared against pace.

Let’s have a look at  his year wise stats.

Pace vs Spin ( Year Wise ) :

Looking at the numbers, it's quite evident that he has improved himself against Spin. In 2018 his average was just 40 with a Strike Rate of 137, which has significantly increased to 66.5 and 147.8 respectively.

But his numbers against Pace have been quite poor. Ever since 2018, his average & Strike Rate both have been declining. Let's jump into the details of how he has played against different pace & spin bowlers.

SR and Avg against different bowling types

When we dig deep into his numbers, we find that he is really good against Left Arm Off-Spin. He has a staggering average of 171 and an SR of 147.4.  Against Left Arm Fast & Right Arm Fast his Strike Rate might be above average around 150s. But his average is below 40.

Also, it's quite evident that he struggles against Left Arm Leg spin & Right Arm Leg-Spin. Although he has not faced enough balls of Left Arm leg-spin (18) still against the Right Arm, he has an average of 23 and an SR of 126.4.

To understand better, we got to have a look at his Strike Rate in the first 10 balls. Where a batsman is quite hesitant and low on confidence.

SR in first 10 balls:

By looking at his Strike Rate we find that he struggles a lot against Right Arm Leg-Spin in the initial phase of his innings. Where he is not even able to Strike at run a ball. He just has a Strike Rate of 86 against Right Arm Leg Spin.

Let’s look at his Boundary & Dot Ball % against different type of bowlers.

Boundary & Dot Ball % :

When we look at this matrix , it is clearly visible that Joss Buttler’ boundary & dot ball % against Right Arm Leg Spin are below average. His Dot ball % is 42.64 & Boundary % is 55.21.

Against Left Arm Off Spin he is too good, has a Boundary % over 50 & Dot Ball % below 30.

From the current Indian team, who is most likely to be in the first 11 who can trouble Joss Buttler is Yuzvendra Chahal. Let's see how Joss has tackled him in the IPL.

Buttler vs Chahal:

Out of 26 balls that Joss faced off Chahal, he has just managed to score 25 runs at a Strike Rate of 96. Hitting just 1 Four & 1 Six, where Chahal has even managed to dismiss him once.

Summary:

The above analysis takes us to a conclusion that Chahal could be the Key against Joss Buttler in the T20 World Cup. It might be risky but worth taking a chance, which would allow India to get an early breakthrough and thus allow them to put the opponents under pressure.

About the Author :

Saksham Alag is an aspiring Cricket Analyst. He has experience in conducting performance analyses on IPL and elite players, and liaised with cricketers including Sohail Tanvir, Sheldon Cottrell, Nkrumah Bonner, and Jaya Sharma. He has also worked on compiling scouting reports, client reviews and engaged with cricket clubs.

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