The services of Jos Buttler will no longer be available for Rajasthan Royals (RR) for the remaining matches in the ongoing IPL. The dashing opener, easily RR’s best performer from the last two seasons, flew back to England on Saturday to be with his wife, Louise Webber, who is expecting her first child. Buttler had married his long-time girlfriend Louise in October 2017.
The English wicketkeeper-batsman was due to leave the tournament later this month, but he has had to make changes in the plan after his wife Louise was admitted in the hospital sooner than expected.
Buttler’s absence is a big blow to the Royals, no doubt. He has been their leading scorer with 311 runs, with an average of 38.87 and a strike rate of 151.7.
And it was Buttler who had led Royals to the playoff last year, scoring five fifties in a row. He had to leave the team early last year too, because of national duty.
Earlier in the IPL 2019, Buttler was ‘Mankaded’ by Kings XI Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin, which created a furore in the cricketing fraternity.
With the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and England’s ODI series against Pakistan coming up, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had directed the players to return to the country on or before April 26.
Therefore, Rajasthan Royals soon would also have to deal with the absence of two other England players, with Jofra Archer, their bowling spearhead, and all-rounder Ben Stokes.
