Legendary Anil Kumble reckons Rajasthan Royals’ decision to not retain Jos Buttler  are factors that have contributed significantly to the struggles of the former IPL winners thus far. Having played eight matches each so far, the Royals have endured defeats in six.

The current white-ball captain of England, Jos Buttler, is among the finest T20 batters. Jos Buttler  is an adaptive batter who can be an aggressor as well as an anchor to win matches for his side. And Jos Buttler displayed his talent in the IPL while playing for Rajasthan Royals (RR). He has shown his hunger for scoring big runs by hitting seven hundreds for the Royals, that too at good strike rates.

Jos Buttler’s IPL Career over the years

Jos Buttler is an England cricketer who plays for the Rajasthan franchise in the Indian Premier League. Jos Buttler was born on Sep 08, 1990, and as of 2024, he is 34 years old. Jos Buttler is a wicket keeper from Taunton and bats right handed. He made his IPL debut in 2016. Jos Buttler has played 107 matches to date in his IPL career and has scored 3,582 runs, with an average of 38.11.

He has also slammed 7 centuries and 19 half-centuries, with his highest IPL score being 124 runs. Jos Buttler has hit 355 fours and 161 sixes in his IPL career. In the IPL Auction 2024, the Rajasthan franchise acquired the services of Jos Buttler for Rs 10.00 Cr. On May 2024, he played his last IPL match against Chennai at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, India, scoring 21 runs off 25 balls.

One of England’s most dynamic players, Jos Buttler is a gifted cricketer both with the bat and behind the wickets. He earned his one-day international debut for England in 2012 after impressing selectors with his efforts for Somerset. Since then he has quickly risen to prominence as one of the most significant players in England’s cricket history.  He helped England win the 2019 World Cup. Following the retirement of Eoin Morgan, Buttler was named as captain of all white-ball formats.

Not only in they international arena and led England to lift the T20 World Cup trophy in 2022 in Australia.  He has set the pace and the standard in the IPL with his aggressive exploits as well. Buttler featured in the Indian Premier League for the first time with Mumbai Indians, who signed him for Rs. 3.8 Crore ahead of the 2016 auction.

However, he had two quiet years with them before his true calling came into the forefront after his move to the Rajasthan Royals in 2018. RR signed him for Rs. 4.4 Crore in the 2018 mega-auction, and he has since repaid the faith.  From the middle order, he was promoted as an opener, and it completely changed the dynamics of his performance.

He smashed five consecutive half-centuries upon his promotion as an opener in 2018. In 2021, Buttler scored his maiden T20 hundred with a massive 124 off 64 deliveries against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He was retained by Rajasthan Royals ahead of the 2022 edition for a whopping Rs. 10 Crores and it so far has looked to be a significant choice.

His breakthrough season was followed by the auction.  In the 2022 IPL, he won the Orange cup, scoring 863 runs and slammed four incredible hundreds. His exploits pushed the Royals into the final for the first time since 2008, although they lost to the Gujarat Titans. Born on September 8, 1990, in Taunton, Somerset, Buttler is married to Louise Buttler and is blessed with two kids. Ahead of the 2025 IPL Auction, RR released their inform batter Jos Buttler.

Jos Buttler was sold to the Gujarat Titans (GT) for 15.75 crore in the IPL 2025 auction. The bidding began with the Rajasthan Royals (RR), his previous team, but GT quickly entered the race, competing fiercely with RR. As the price surged past 10 crore, PBKS and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) also showed interest. After intense bidding, GT secured Buttler for 15.75 crore. The wicketkeeper-batter has accumulated over 3500 runs and will look to add more in the upcoming season.

Jos Buttler was instrumental in doing damage to opposition- Anil Kumble

Legendary Anil Kumble reckons Rajasthan Royals’ decision not to retain Jos Buttler is are factor that has contributed significantly to the struggles of the former IPL winners thus far. Having played eight matches each so far,  while the Royals have endured defeats in six.

In a select media interaction on Wednesday, JioStar expert Kumble said,

“Jos Buttler is someone who sort of was the key player for Rajasthan Royals for a while. He was instrumental in single-handedly doing damage to the opposition.”

“So I was a bit surprised that RR didn’t retain him. I felt that both the games that they lost (previous two against DC and LSG), they had it in hand, which they shouldn’t have lost.

“Missing Sanju Samson (to an injury) is a big thing. He’s a key player for Rajasthan Royals,” said Kumble, referring to RR captain who missed the last game and will not play against RCB due to an abdominal injury.

Each of RCB’s defeats this season have come at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium while they remain unbeaten away from home. The Chinnaswamy wicket which is usually a batting paradise, has played on the slower side this season, not suiting the style of play of the home team’s batters.

“People think that when you when you’re playing at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, it’s going to be a flat track. You need 250 with the kind of impact players now and with the kind of batting that these young batters are doing, you feel as though whatever you score is not enough,” he said.

“So when you’re batting first, it becomes a bit of a challenge. What’s a good score? But again, you need to assess the conditions. Maybe that’s something that RCB haven’t done really well. I feel for RCB, especially when they’re batting first Virat (Kohli) becomes a very key player for them because all the batters around him look to really attack from ball one,” said Kumble.

Lastly, the champion spinner is happy to see his tribe do well in the IPL especially the young gun Suyash Sharma.

“I’m really impressed with some of the young spinners on display. People who haven’t really played first-class cricket but have been able to hold their own,” he said.

“Suyash is one of them. Even when he first came onto the scene for KKR, I think his consistency has improved which is not easy with the kind of action that he has. He has bowled brilliantly for RCB.

“The pace at which he bowls, he doesn’t give too much time for the batters to use whatever they need to in terms of hitting him and I don’t see too many batters picking him.”

With Rahul Dravid’s deep understanding of the Chinnaswamy conditions and Kumble’s tactical insight, Rajasthan Royals will be aiming to bounce back strongly against a dangerous RCB side on Thursday.

Also Read: RCB vs RR: Aakash Chopra Questions Lack Of Strictness In Virat Kohli’s Aggressive Celebration