- Jos Buttler says players appreciate the challenge of ODI cricket over T20
- He also explains how the history of the game is a motivating factor for the stars
- England face India in a massive ODI series, starting on Thursday in Mumbai
Jos Buttler reckons winning the 50-over World Cup still outweighs being crowned Twenty20 champions.
Although T20 now dominates the global scene, threatening to wipe out one-dayers from the future landscape, Buttler, who has been in England sides that have claimed both world titles during a 13-year international career, says players appreciate the stiffer challenge the longer version of limited-overs cricket throws down.
Buttler – playing his first one-day international on Thursday since December 2023 – said: ‘I still think if you talk to guys about winning a World Cup, they’d probably say a 50-over World Cup ahead of a T20 World Cup at the moment.
‘Probably just the history of it. It’s a longer, harder challenge to win it. The last World Cup, India fell at the final hurdle, but they won 10 games, so it’s a great effort to go that long. T20 World Cup is a bit shorter and there’s maybe a bit more jeopardy in it.
‘In T20 one guy can have a day out and win a game but in ODIs you normally need a few more guys to contribute to a win.’
England welcome back their most prolific limited-overs centurion Joe Root for a three-match series they are using as preparation for the Champions Trophy – a tournament featuring the top eight-ranked sides – in Pakistan later this month.
Jos Buttler says players appreciate the drawn-out challenge of ODI cricket over the T20 format
England are preparing to face India, with the series beginning in Mumbai on Thursday
India’s big name batters are also back, led by captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill.
Kohli’s form since he piled up 765 runs at an average of 95.62 and strike rate of 90.31 during India’s run to the final of the 2023 World Cup is a concern, but a career of 50 ODI hundreds leaves him with credit in the bank and Abhishek Sharma, who surged 38 places to number two in the T20 international batting rankings on the back of his 54-ball 135 against England in Mumbai last weekend, outside the squad.
Buttler smiled: ‘It’s nice that Abhishek’s not in that team, isn’t it?’
For England, fast bowler Jofra Archer passed a fitness test at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium after splitting the webbing in his bowling hand during the 4-1 T20 series defeat.
‘He doesn’t want to not play. Any time you ask him how he’s travelling, he’ll say he’s had two years out and had enough rest. So he’s always desperate to play, which is great,’ Buttler said.
Fellow 90-mile-per-hour man Mark Wood misses out, however, with Saqib Mahmood and Brydon Carse the other two seamers.
Buttler has moved up to No 5 in the batting order now that he has relinquished the wicketkeeping gloves, a place higher than his last series involvement against West Indies 14 months ago.