How Jos Buttler can stand in India’s way of reaching the coveted T20WC 2022 finals?

Jos Buttler can stand in India’s way: Jos Buttler is one boundary away from reaching 2,500 T20 internationals. That’s not a small number by any stretch of the imagination.

Should he hit one today in the next few hours, it would be his 222nd four. And what an occasion would that be with fans chirping, the atmosphere electrifying and the surrounding environs sparked by a contest most cricket obsessed wouldn’t dare miss.

For a batsman who has already hit 884 of his 2,496 runs by way of just boundaries, Buttler can be a thorn in India’s way of reaching the finals.

Lest it is forgotten, it is a tournament India last won in 2007 and England in 2010.

Perhaps that’s just one of the things that makes the soon-to-begin mega semi-final so tasty- isn’t it?

That both would be ever so keen to lay hands on a coveted trophy that’s eluded them all these years.

And on the one hand, there’s Buttler, fresh from his 28 (Sri Lanka) and that damaging 73 with which he inflicted wounds on New Zealand quite recently.

Although, what could hurt India, hypothetically speaking, is the fact that as on date in the ongoing World Cup, Buttler’s not been the harrowing destroyer with the bat we know him to be.

Damage, if that’s the word, has been done by others around him. Think Ben Stokes with his unbeaten 42 against Sri Lanka, which came after a series of harrowingly low scores.

Think Alex Hales, who with his 47 against the Lankans and that valuable albeit under-appreciated 52 versus New Zealand proved that he’s well and truly back.

But it’s about time that the English captain, who’s not been in the best of forms lately, sprung back to life and got the bat to do the talking. Since he’s not the one with drama or shenanigans anyway!

Not that India are going to make things easy for one of the world’s finest white-ball cricketers today. In the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Shami and Kumar, Buttler will have his task cut out against India’s redoubtable medium pace trio.

The ebullient youngster from Guna has been making the ball speak a language few have been able to decode. His prowess with swing in the IPL and subsequent success in the Indian jersey has made Singh a bowler to reckon with.

He’ll know a thing or two about Royal from Rajasthan as will Shami and Kumar who’ll make things not so easy with pace and movement.

If anything, the Adelaide Oval-bound contest will unleash a cracker of a contest between a captain who knows he’s got to deliver for he hasn’t up until now and a dazzling Indian side that knows nothing about holding back.

Well, not that the big ICC tournaments have been Rohit’s team’s greatest strength!

Who wins this one will eventually come down to holding one’s nerves. Cliche?
How about this then- how’s the Jos guys ahead of the key semi final?