NEW DELHI: England skipper Jos Buttler expressed his admiration for Rohit Sharma’s return to form with a century in the ODI format, highlighting it as a prime example of modern, aggressive batting in cricket.
Despite the pressures and scrutiny surrounding Sharma’s performance and calls for his retirement, he managed to score his first ODI century in 16 months, contributing significantly to India’s victory and series win.
Buttler remarked on the universal pressure experienced by players and suggested that Sharma’s situation serves as a reminder for players to maintain perspective on their own challenges.
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“It’s probably a nice reminder for all of us that if someone of Rohit’s caliber can be under pressure, we should be a bit easier on ourselves,” Buttler said.
Buttler praised Sharma’s innings of 119 off 90 balls, acknowledging his ability to shift gears and apply pressure back on the opposition, thus showcasing a high level of adaptability and skill.
“He’s been a great player for such a long period of time and top players generally come up with the goods and he obviously did that today,” he added.

“Any time you’re playing against great players and they’re playing an innings like that, I’m sure players on both sides will be watching and learning. He played a brilliant innings and (displayed) how he can go up and down the gears and absorb pressure, put a lot of pressure back on (the opponent).”
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The England captain also reflected on the dynamic and aggressive approach to 50-over cricket, as demonstrated by Sharma, aligning with the strategic direction England aims to pursue in the game.

Despite a strong start by England, with openers Ben Duckett and Phil Salt exploiting the powerplay, Buttler felt the team fell short of a potentially winning total.
“We, again, started really well. I thought Duckett and Salt played the powerplay brilliantly and got in some nice positions. We just needed one or two of us to sort of really kick on and play a real innings of note and maybe push our score up to 330-350 kind of territory,” Buttler stated.
“But some positives (are) there, we’ve been making steps again in the right direction, but probably didn’t (put), not the perfect, complete performance with the bat. Credit to Rohit Sharma, I thought he played a fantastic knock. He’s set the standard in ODI cricket for a while and another great innings today.”
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Buttler acknowledged the positives in England’s performance, emphasizing the importance of learning from the experience. He pointed out the ongoing development within the team and the need for accelerated learning to steer the players in the right direction.
“Any time you don’t win games in cricket, that tends to be what happens. You just weren’t quite good enough for long enough. In the cycle of the team, there’s a few players who are just gaining experience and days like today are great lessons and that’s what you want,” he added.
“You’ve got to accelerate that learning and keep pushing the guys in the right direction. Like I say, we’re doing some things right. You always want to do some things better.”