Joseph Charles Buttler MBE (born 8 September 1990) is an English cricketer who is the captain of the England cricket team in limited overs cricket, and plays for the England Test team. In domestic cricket he represents Lancashire, having previously played for Somerset, and has played in multiple Twenty20 leagues, including for Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. Buttler is known for his highly innovative and aggressive batting style, especially in limited over cricket.

Buttler made his T20I debut in 2011, his ODI debut in 2012, and his Test debut in 2014. He was the vice-captain and a crucial member of the England team that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup, and made the run out during the Super Over which sealed victory in the final. He was appointed captain of England's limited overs teams in June 2022. He captained England to victory at the 2022 T20 World Cup, top-scoring for England at the tournament.

Buttler plays as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman. He is England's second-most-capped T20I player behind Eoin Morgan. Along with Adil Rashid, he holds the world record for highest seventh-wicket stand in ODIs: 177 against New Zealand during their 2015 tour of England. He is England's highest run-scorer in T20Is, and is one of only four Englishmen to score a T20I century. As a wicket-keeper, he holds the England ODI record for most dismissals as well as the England T20I record for most dismissals.He is widely regarded around the world as England's greatest ever white ball batsman. During Eoin Morgan's tenure as captain Buttler was his trusted deputy. Captain Morgan would thus constantly refer and consult Buttler for tactical advice and field placements during crucial stages of the game. Once Morgan retired Buttler was named as England's new White-ball Captain after being the side's vice-captain for seven years.

Career
 

Domestic Career

Before making the senior team, Buttler played a lot of cricket for Somerset. Buttler played a significant role in Somerset's youth teams and represented the county at the Under-13, Under-15, and Under-17 levels.

Buttler, who had graduated from King's College as well, also participated in their athletic program. His batting average for the 2006 season was the highest at his school. At a rate of 49.66, he had scored 447 runs. In April 2008, when he and Alex Barrow opened the game with 340 runs, it was the pinnacle of his high school cricket career. He scored 227 runs without being defeated. Throughout the 2008 season, Buttler also served as King's captain.

In September 2009, Buttler made his first-class debut for the Somerset senior team. He joined the team to take Justin Langer's place, who was hurt. His first-ever game was a County Championship contest with Lancashire. Despite his meager 30-point performance, he managed to keep his spot in the team for the subsequent Pro40 game against Hampshire and even made it onto Somerset's roster for the 2009 Champions League T20.

At the end of September 2013, Buttler decided to move to Lancashire after a successful career at the Somerset. Buttler recently disclosed his decision to extend his time with Lancashire. On May 27, 2016, he announced a new three-year contract with the team.

IPL Career

After being acquired by the organization, Buttler played for the Mumbai Indians in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, making his IPL debut. Buttler cost the Rajasthan Royals an astounding 4.4 crore during the 2018 IPL auctions.

Buttler took the lead during the second half of the competition by scoring five straight 50+ scores in back-to-back games despite only scoring 29 runs in his first seven innings. Only two other batsmen in IPL history have accomplished this feat. Throughout the 2018 season, Jos has scored 548 runs.

Buttler has been a crucial cog in the Royals' lineup ever since. He has been one of their most reliable players, stepping up when his club most needed him to. He scored 863 runs in all during the 2022 season, hitting 149 along with four fifties and four hundred. He was one of the captains who led the Royals to the IPL championship game.

International Career

ODI Career

Buttler played his first ODI against Pakistan in Dubai in 2012. His performance against the South African cricket side at Edgbaston solidified his spot in the England ODI selection. When Buttler joined Somerset teammate Craig Kieswetter, England was on 64/3, and Buttler showed off the sheer power of his batting.

In place of a rested Jonathan Trott, Buttler was given a spot in the ODI team for the 2013 tour of India. Midway through the ODI series, he took over as the preferred wicket-keeper from Craig Kieswetter. This enabled him to establish himself as a reliable member of the England ODI team.

Buttler was chosen for the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and appeared in each of England's contests. He was included in Cricinfo's 2013 T20 XI for his outstanding performance. Buttler was selected for the World Cup after competing in the Tri-Series in Australia at the start of the year. In the six innings he played, Buttler scored 141 runs, including 39 and 65 against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, respectively, both in losing causes.

He scored 129 runs off just 77 deliveries against New Zealand, then the greatest ODI total ever. Buttler became the English player to record an ODI century in the fewest number of balls when he did it in the fourth match against Pakistan.

During the 2016 ODI series against Bangladesh, Buttler took over as captain. Because he had dismissed Taskin Ahmed in the second ODI, Buttler got into a physical altercation with the Bangladeshi players. Buttler handed the ball over to the players as their celebrations got out of hand.

In the end, the umpires made sure that everyone calmed down. Following the event, the ICC informed Buttler that he had broken the law and was given a demerit point on his disciplinary record. The Bangladeshi captains, Mashrafe Mortaza and Sabbir Rahman, on the other hand, were each fined 20% of their match fees and given a demerit point.

Then he was chosen for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, and he was subsequently included in the 2016 ICC World ODI XI. Buttler scored a century in the final game of the 2018 ODI series against Australia after hitting two fifty-plus scores in each of the first four games. Australia was thrashed 5–0 by England. Buttler, who was the only English player to surpass 20 runs in this contest, was dubbed the best white-ball wicket-keeper batter in the world.

Because of his 110, Buttler was named Player of the Match and Player of the Series for his steady performances for England. In an ODI series against the West Indies in 2019, England defeated them thanks to Buttler's career-best 150 in game four and the team's staggering 418/6 total after 50 overs.

At the time, he scored 150 runs, the most by an English batsman in an ODI inning, and smashed 12 sixes in the innings. In 15 balls, he scored 51 to 100; in 16, he scored 100 to 150. With 24, England set a new ODI record for the most sixes by a team.

Buttler reached the century mark in the second game against Pakistan in just 50 balls. This was the second-fastest century ever scored by an English player in an ODI. Buttler also owns the top spot for the record, which he achieved in 2015 against the same competition.

Butter was named the vice-captain of the team for the 2019 World Cup, which was played in England, and the ICC had already identified him as an essential member of the England team. Although he got off to a sluggish start in the opening game against South Africa, scoring just 18 runs, he came into his own in the following game against Pakistan, scoring 103 runs in 76 deliveries, the fastest century ever scored by an Englishman in a World Cup at the time.

He followed it up against Bangladesh with a half-century, leading England to their highest-ever score of 386/6 in a World Cup game. The Kiwis faced off against England in the championship game. Buttler scored a critical 59 and enabled Ben Stokes and the team to add 110 runs to their partnership, tying the game. In the super over, Buttler and Ben Stokes both took the field to bat, and the two added 15 runs.

With a boundary on the final ball, Buttler scored seven of them. The Blackcaps needed two runs off the final ball as they chased down 16 runs to win their first-ever World Championship. As the scores remained locked, Guptill attempted to score a second run, but Buttler ran him down. However, England was deemed the winner because they outscored New Zealand in field goal attempts. Due to this, England became the first nation to win the World Cup and claimed the top spot.

Buttler's personal best performance came in the first ODI match against the Netherlands in June 2022, when he scored 162 runs in 70 deliveries. The highest tea total in ODIs to date was achieved by England, who amassed a massive 498 in their 50 overs.

Buttler recorded the second-fastest ODI century in the same series, scoring 150 runs in only 65 balls. On June 30, 2022, Buttler assumed leadership of the limited-overs team with the retirement of Eoin Morgan.

Test Career

In 2014, during England's ongoing series against the national cricket team of India, Buttler received his first Test call-up for the team. Due to Matt Prior being replaced because of an injury, Buttler was able to play in the Test match.

In the third game of the series, Buttler faced off in his first Test against India. With an explosive knock of 85 runs in just 83 balls, he dazzled everyone. A test inning it was, for sure! Buttler established a reputation for being an aggressive batsman who hammered bowlers all over the field in all three forms of the game. He participated in all three of the series' final tests and had an outstanding run. In total, he scored 70 runs and struck out 45 in the following two games while only playing three innings.

Buttler was a member of the team and participated in all five of the English-hosted Ashes games in 2015. In the five-match series, he had a terrifying streak of low scores, with his highest score coming at 42 runs.

Buttler's performance received harsh criticism from England's illustrious former opening batsman, Geoffrey Boycott. Jos Buttler, he said, is like a rabbit in the Ashes cricket headlights. A seven-year-old boy would have made a better play. In the entire series, he hasn't made a run. He hasn't demonstrated the slightest application. I think he's mentally and psychologically unfit for Test cricket; it's pitiful.

Buttler struggled a lot to regain his spot in the Test squad after playing two Tests against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. He was not selected for the Test series against South Africa or the third Test against Pakistan.

In the third test of the series against India, Buttler made his test comeback. He participated in the series' final three games. Buttler had an excellent series despite the English team having a forgettable one because they were destroyed 4-0. He scored 76 in the game in Mumbai, with an average of over 40.

Buttler was unable to get a spot in the Ashes Test squad for the 2017–18 season. Buttler destroyed the Pakistani bowlers in the home Test series the following year, in June of 2018. He scored 14, 67, and 80 points in the three innings. He finished with the most runs scored in the series and won Headingley's player of the match award. James Anderson was replaced as vice-captain of the Test team in July 2018 by Jos Buttler. Two months later, he scored 106 against India to reach his first Test century.

Buttler was a part of the 30-person English team that trained in secret in June 2020 in preparation for the Test series against the Windies. Buttler appeared to be in excellent form throughout the series as he hammered two half-centuries and averaged 52.

His performance at Old Trafford earned England the series victory with a score of 75. Buttler scored 152 in the second Test at the Rose Bowl, his second Test century, and he and Zac Crawley set a new partnership record. He received a lot of criticism for his keeping abilities, though, as he missed many opportunities to be dismissed throughout the series.

By the team's rest and rotation schedule, Buttler played the first Test of the 2021 series in India, in Chennai, before heading back home. He scored 30 and 24 points and made catches in the one game he played, leaving a lasting impression. The initial game versus India was won by England.

Buttler accepted the position of vice-captain of the England team for the 2021–22 Ashes in November. Due to his poor performance in the series—two ducks in four games—he was benched for the final test. His lone respectable effort occurred in the opening game, where he led England in scoring with a total of 30 or so runs.

Buttler has only played in one Test match this year, but in those two innings, he scored 11 runs. In 57 games throughout his career, Buttler has scored 2907 runs at an average of 32.

T20I Career

Buttler received his first call-up to the international team in September 2011 when he was included in the senior England squad for the Twenty20 International match against the visiting Indian team. Buttler did not make his debut as a wicketkeeper but rather as a batsman.

Buttler continued to play for the team after the game against India, and later that same season, they faced the visiting West Indies team. Buttler has excelled in the T20 format for England ever since his debut. After that, Buttler played regularly for England in T20 cricket in 2012.

England was having trouble at 64/3 in 17.2 overs in the match versus South Africa that was played at Edgbaston. When Buttler joined Craig Kieswetter, the pair added 54 runs in the following 16 balls to bring the total to 118/5.

Buttler got 30 runs in the same game against Wayne Parnell, which was the second-highest total in a T20I. He was chosen to represent the United States in the ICC T20 World Cup, which was held in Sri Lanka. With only 40 runs scored in 5 games and no promising innings to show off, he had a disastrous debut world cup.

Buttler solidified his position as England's starting goalie after Craig Kieswetter was passed aside. In the second game of the T20 series against New Zealand, Buttler reached his first T20 half-century.

Later, in Bangladesh, Buttler participated in the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup. Even though England lost all four of its games and was eliminated early from the championship, Buttler had two solid innings of 32 and 34.

In 2016, India hosted the ICC T20 World Cup, and Buttler was selected for the England team. He performed well and was crucial to England's advancement to the final. In six innings, he scored a total of 191 runs, with his highest total coming against Sri Lanka at 66. In a T20I encounter during England's 2018 tour of Australia, Buttler scored the fastest fifty by an English player in T20Is in just 22 deliveries.

In the final three games of the T20I series against South Africa in 2020, Buttler participated. Buttler's outstanding 67* score in the final match of the series helped England win. Along with Dawid Malan, he was a part of the second-wicket partnership that broke all previous records.

For the five-match T20 series in 2021, Buttler traveled to India. Buttler took over early on and averaged over 40 while hitting two half-centuries per game in the five games. In the same series back then, he also mentioned scoring his highest-ever T20 total of 83.

The next year, Buttler competed in the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup, where he set a record by scoring 101 against Sri Lanka in the group stage. He became the first cricketer from England to reach the century mark in each of the game's three formats with this innings. In the competition, he scored 269 runs, including a century against Australia.

Buttler will captain England in the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup as they aim to defend the title they won in 2010. The skipper will be the most important player for the Three Lions to win the tournament.

Playing style

A tall and strongly-built cricketer, Buttler has an upright stance in the crease. During his maiden first-class century against Hampshire in 2010, he "hit the ball hard and straight", "moving his feet decisively, playing with his bat close to his body and selecting the right balls to attack". Buttler was praised for "remaining cool and composed at the crease" and for his "dogged determination and decent range of shots" during the innings. Somerset captain Marcus Trescothick suggested that Buttler could challenge teammate Craig Kieswetter's place in the England team.

Buttler's temperament in the longer forms of the game has been questioned at times as his career has developed. In 2013, he was out for 94 runs for Somerset while attempting to reach his century by hitting a six and George Dobell, writing for ESPNcricinfo, questioned "his ability to defend and deny [bowlers]". Dobell praised the first half of Buttler's innings, which ensured a draw for Somerset, saying that "it showed a young man responding to his team's needs with a restrained, mature performance that exhibited a decent defence and an ability to leave and play straight" and that he had "produced some of those trademark straight drives and several powerful pulls" but felt that "it is the strokes he does not play that are as relevant as those he does".

In one day cricket, Buttler quickly established a reputation as an aggressive batsman who could take control of a game at the end of an innings. By the end of his first full-season he was producing "innings of huge promise" which were being described as "breathtaking" and "swashbuckling" and displaying "an array of explosive and innovative shots". Still a teenager, his displays in both 40 over and 20 over cricket in 2010 won him plaudits, including a description as a "supremely talented youngster" who batted with a "blend of power and sweet timing". His range of shots, including effective use of 'scoop' and 'ramp' shots over the wicket-keeper to fine leg and variations such as reverse and swivel scoop shots, mean that his game has been considered subtle rather than overly aggressive and his "stunning strokes", clean striking and "crispness when hitting" the ball along with his "audacity and adventure" have all been cited as making him an "exciting" batsman.

Despite not always being his county's first-choice wicket-keeper and reservations about the quality of his work behind the stumps, Buttler has frequently been used in that role by the England team since the beginning of 2013, especially in one-day cricket. He was installed in the wicket-keeper role ahead of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy after Craig Kieswetter faltered in terms of his batting – Buttler's one-day batting, his potential and his ability to combine power with improvisation being seen as more important than any failings as a wicket-keeper – despite, by his own admission, his "keeping [being] a work in progress". His wicket-keeping was "seen by some as having more potential" than his main rival for the job Jonny Bairstow and England wicket-keeper coach Bruce French spoke of his "natural hands" behind the stumps.

Following Kieswetter's and Matt Prior's international retirements in 2015, Buttler became England's first-choice wicket-keeper in all formats. Whether he should play as a wicket-keeper or specialist batsman was questioned in middle of the 2015 season and Bairstow replaced him for the third ODI during Australia's 2015 tour due to Buttler's poor form with the bat throughout the Australian series. Bairstow eventually became the outright wicket-keeper for Tests in December 2015 for the series against South Africa, and Buttler was dropped from the Test side during 2016, whilst continuing to be the first-choice ODI and T20 wicket-keeper.

Career best performances

As of November 2020, Buttler has scored seven first-class (two in Test matches) and 11 List A centuries, nine of which have been scored for England in One Day International matches. On 2 May 2021, he scored his maiden century in the T20 format of the game in 2021 IPL for Rajasthan Royals against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Buttler made his maiden first-class century in May 2010, scoring 144 for Somerset against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl, Southampton. His highest Test match score of 152 was made for England against Pakistan in August 2020, at the same ground. As of November 2020, this remains Buttler's highest ever first-class score.

In limited overs cricket, Buttler's best List A and ODI score of 150 from 77 deliveries was made in February 2019 against the West Indies at the National Cricket Stadium, Grenada. This is also the highest ODI score for an Englishman against the West Indies. Buttler is yet to score a century in one-day matches in county cricket.

Buttler's highest T20 score of 124 out from 64 balls was made for Rajasthan Royals against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2021 Indian Premier League at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi and shattered the record for the highest score in the Indian Premier League(IPL) by an English player which was previously held by Jonny Bairstow. His highest Twenty20 International (T20I) score is 101 not out off 67 balls, and was achieved against Sri Lanka in November 2021 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Honours

• Buttler was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to cricket.
• Nominated – ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year (2021)
• Named in ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year for the year 2021.
• Somerset County Council: Chairman's Award
• Odi cricket world Cup :2019
• T20 cricket world Cup: 2022

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