Jos Buttler is ready to carry his new-found white-ball “conviction” into the Test arena if handed a recall for England’s four-match Test series against Pakistan. A return for Buttler in the longer format of the game would be something of a leap of faith, considering he has not played a red-ball match since England’s Test tour of the UAE more than eight months ago.

Being one of the major contributors to England’s success over the last 14 months, he has definitely evolved as a cricketer and as a team player. His stats say it all. Jos Buttler’s last nine T20I scores are 32*, 54, 30, 21, 6, 66*, 32*, 36 and 73*, the last innings being his highest individual score in T20Is as well as the highest in his overall T20 career. He is currently among the top 5 players with most number of sixes across all formats and with a strike rate of 133.33 in ODI cricket (since April 2015), he is undoubtedly one of England’s most impactful player. Looking at these stats, Jos is all set for the longer format of the game.

MI’s head coach and one of the best modern-day batsman Ricky Ponting also backed Buttler to do well at the Test level. In a recent interview, Buttler shared his experience with the Aussie legend in the MI camp. He said, “I had a bit of a chat with Ricky and his advice was about understanding your game and taking ownership of it. No one can do it for you, it’s down to you.”

Buttler believes that his natural game is his best chance to score runs in Test Cricket. This is what he had to say about his aggressive mind-set, “It probably comes down to making peace with what you guys [the media] are going to write and what the public are going to think, and accepting that if you get caught at second slip having a big whoosh, so be it. I’d rather do that than leave one and get bowled. The game’s about scoring runs. What I’ve learned, whatever colour the ball is, is that me trying to hit the ball is going to get the best out of myself.”
T20 cricket has definitely made a positive impact on Test cricket. Batsmen are scoring quick runs, fielding standards have gone up and bowlers have more weapons in their arsenal. We are in a phase where every team is playing for a win and not just for survival, and this is where Jos Buttler can be England’s trump card. Batting at no. 6 or 7, scoring quick runs and keeping wickets was Adam Gilchrist’s role in the champion Australian side and Jos can do the same for England. England’s squad for the Lord’s Test has been announced but with recent form, Jos is knocking on the door for a place in England’s squad for the Manchester Test match.

(Quotes taken from ESPN Cricinfo)