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Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be without the services of Jos Buttler for their IPL 2024 Qualifier 2 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday, May 24. The RR opener returned to England after the league match against Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk on May 12.
Buttler is captaining England in the ongoing four-match T20I series against Pakistan at home. The first match of the series at Headingley, Leeds, on May 22 was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain. The remaining three matches will be played on May 25 (Edgbaston), May 28 (Cardiff) and May 30 (The Oval).
In Buttler's absence, England's Tom Kohler-Cadmore has been opening the batting for Rajasthan Royals with Yashasvi Jaiswal in IPL 2024. However, he has failed to make much of an impact in the two matches he has played.
Kohler-Cadmore was dismissed for 18 off 23 on his IPL debut against Punjab Kings at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on May 15. The 29-year-old was then cleaned up for 20 off 15 by a brilliant yorker from Lockie Ferguson in the Eliminator against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
In contrast, Buttler had an impressive run as opener for Rajasthan Royals before heading back to England for national duty. In 11 innings, the 33-year-old smashed 359 runs at an average of 39.88 and a strike rate of 140.78, with two hundreds.
The dominating right-hander batter slammed an unbeaten 100 of 58 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The RR opener struck nine fours and four sixes as his side chased down a target of 184 by six wickets with five balls remaining.
The England white-ball captain clobbered a sensational 107* off 60 against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. He whacked nine fours and six sixes as RR chased down 224 in a nail-biting last-ball finish.
Jos Buttler defended ECB's decision to call back England players ahead of IPL 2024 playoffs
While there has been some discontent among Indian fans and experts over the ECB's decision to call back England's players from the IPL ahead of the playoffs, Buttler has defended the move. Speaking to the media a few days back, he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo:
"I said, 'Look, as an England captain, my main priority is to be playing for England. It's my personal opinion that there shouldn't be any international cricket that clashes with the IPL. I think that these games have been in the calendar for a long time.
"Of course, leading into a World Cup, your No. 1 priority is playing for England and performing for England. I feel like this is the best preparation," he added.
England are the defending champions in the T20 World Cup, beating Pakistan by five wickets in the 2022 final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
