Warne’s Idea to let Ben Stokes Open: Buttler

Rajasthan Royals’ batsman Jos Buttler has revealed that mentor Shane Warne had asked Ben Stokes to open the innings. Stokes had been struggling with a cramp during the innings break and batting in the middle-order would have been tough.

The Royals were chasing 177 against the Chennai Super Kings at the time. Stokes, who is primarily a finisher, came to open alongside Jos Buttler instead of Ajinkya Rahane. Many would believe that Royals’ skipper Rahane put the Englishman out to bat. But, it was Shane Warne’s idea in the first place.

The 26-year old could only muster 11 runs while Buttler rocketed away to score a match-winning 60-ball 95. Buttler ensured that RR were still in with a shout off playoffs contention.

Speaking after the match, Buttler said, “At the half time. He (Stokes) was just struggling a little bit with his hamstring, whether it was cramp or something else, he was struggling with his running. And as we’ve seen on this ground, actually in the middle overs, trying to push twos and run hard when boundaries are a little harder,”.

Buttler admitted that Warne realised Stokes’ predicament and its effect on middle-order performance. At that stage, the team would require a lot of 1s and 2s, thus hampering him. With Stokes in no condition to run, Warne asked him to open and bat freely instead.

“Shane Warne sort of said why don’t you go at the top and play with some freedom and try and see if that comes off because he felt like he was going to find it hard in the middle with his running. I kept nicking the strike off him at the top, but it was a nice experiment and I think Shane Warne has obviously been a proactive guy and thought why not, let’s try it,” Buttler added.

Rajasthan have three matches remaining and need a victory in all three of them to ensure a playoff berth in IPL 2018. The franchise currently has on 5 wins from 11 matches under their belt.