Jos Buttler excited to have 'full line-up' for India tour

Kolkata, Jan 21 (IANS) England captain Jos Buttler is excited with the prospect that they have a "full line-up" for the white-ball series against India. The wicketkeeper-batter emphasised that there is no workload or injury concern in the squad in the build-up to the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan and Dubai. 

With Brendon McCullum taking charge of England's all-format coach, the visiting side is pumped up to do well in the three-match T20I series starting at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

"It's a really exciting tour, coming to India with what I'd say is a full line-up for us. You know sometimes there's so much cricket that certain players have to be rested or managed. But that's certainly not the case for us at all in this series. So we've got a full complement of players, which is really exciting. Obviously, Baz is coming into the white-ball set-up for the first time too," Buttler said on the eve of the T20I series opener.

"(I) also want to build that captain-coach alliance. Obviously, it's not a new set-up because Baz has been around for a while and there are a lot of players in this squad that have been with him in the Test set-up for a number of years already.

"So, yeah, just looking forward to building that relationship in the white-ball set-up. It's going to be a great series against a really top side in their own conditions. So, loads to look forward to," he added.

Buttler also highlighted England's formidable balance in their squad as they possess multiple batters who can bowl in the limited-overs format, providing vital depth in their batting order. "That gives a lot of depth to the XI and confidence to the guys at the top that there's plenty (of batting) to come. So, we can be really aggressive and, you know, not worry too much about our wicket, because we've got guys behind us who can do exactly the same job," the wicket-keeper said.

"We're really blessed actually in terms of the bowlers that we have here, on this tour. They're all very, very capable bats. I think if you look at guys like Gus Atkinson with a Test hundred, and then Brydon Carse is an excellent hitter of the ball, and then Adil Rashid down at No. 11 (No. 10 on the team sheet for the first T20I) who's got multiple first-class hundreds. So, yeah, I think we're very fortunate in that sense that a lot of our bowlers are very, very capable batters," Buttler added.

England have named their playing XI for the first T20I on Tuesday which includes Jacob Bethell along with Phil Salt, Buttler, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, and Liam Livingstone as batting fire-power while Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, and Jamie Overton will lead the pace attack. Adil Rashid is the sole full-time spinner in the playing 11.

Buttler heaped praise on Bethel, who has averaged 57.66 and scored at 167.96 in his six T20I innings.

"It's a new challenge for him to come and play in India. But I know he's excited (for it). I think he's been someone who in English cricket has been talked about for a while knowing the talent he possesses, even when he's been playing in the Under-19s. So, he was a name you'd hear being talked about that he's gonna be a special player. And I think, you know, all credit to him. I think he's done brilliantly well coming into international cricket," Butter said.

"And he has got a good head on his shoulders, and obviously, he's got the game for it, as you've seen in the white-ball stuff. And then obviously, moving into Test cricket, you know, it's fantastic to watch him in New Zealand. So, yeah, he's been playing really well," he added.

--IANS

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