Jos Buttler enjoys verbal duels with India skipper Virat Kohli. Buttler was involved in heated exchanges with the Indian players during the second Test at Lord’s.
“Virat Kohli is an incredibly competitive guy, he loves the challenge and competition. To be honest, that is one of the pleasures of playing against him. It is a great battle, it tests you. It is a privilege really to be out there in that competition against him and his team. We enjoy that, we have really competitive guys in our team as well who are desperate to win and it adds to the picture,” Buttler is quoted as saying by ANI.
“At times, it can be part and parcel of the game. As a viewer, it is interesting to watch but I think, to be honest, it boils down to 22 ultra-competitive guys on the field who are trying to win for their country. At times, there can be ego and some words can be exchanged. Mostly it is in good spirits, but as a side, we are focused on what we need to do as a group to get back in the Test series,” he said.
He urged the England batsmen to support Joe Root, who is in exceptional form in the ongoing five-match Test series. The skipper has scored 386 runs in just four innings.
“I think it is obvious that the rest of us need to step up and give Joe Root more support. This year, in particular, he always bats well, but he seems to be in the form of his life,” said Buttler.
“He has had an amazing start to the series and hopefully, that can continue and the rest of us can improve our game to give him more support. We certainly do not want to create more pressure on Joe’s shoulders. As a unit, we need to stand up to the level we can,” he said.