"He's the No. 1 batter in world cricket at the moment" - Harbhajan Singh lauds Jos Buttler

Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has lavished praise on Jos Buttler following his outstanding run in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Harbhajan reckons that the England keeper-batter is the perfect player as he is adept against all types of bowling.

Buttler, England's white-ball skipper, won the Orange Cap in IPL 2022 after amassing 863 runs. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) star has been in stellar form this season as well, having already notched up three 50-plus scores in four matches.

The 32-year-old top-scored with 52 on a tricky Chepauk wicket on Wednesday, April 12, to propel the Royals to a match-winning total of 175 against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan lauded Buttler, who became the third-fastest batter to reach 3000 IPL runs. He said:

"I fell short of words to praise Jos Buttler. He is a proper batter of the cricket ball. He uses the crease to perfection, possesses good technique, and he has good footwork against pace and spin. For me, he's the No. 1 batter in world cricket at the moment."

The 176-run target proved to be just enough for the Royals to hold out the Super Kings and register a crucial three-wicket win.

With 21 required off the final over, CSK skipper MS Dhoni hit two sixes as Sandeep Sharma's attempted yorkers ended up as full tosses. The right-arm pacer then went around the wicket and conceded no more boundaries to close out the game.

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"It is hard to play him once it spins" - Jos Buttler on Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja. (Image Credits: Twitter)

During a mid-innings interview in Wednesday's game, Buttler admitted that the pitch slowed down after starting off well, making CSK spinner Ravindra Jadeja almost unplayable. The Lancashire cricketer told the host broadcaster:

"Started off like a very good wicket, slowed down and Jadeja bowled well. Powerplay, you are always trying to take advantage of that. We lost a few early wickets and so I had to take the game deeper. Tried to take advantage of the back end but got out early.

"He bowls very fast and gets it to spin. It is hard to play him once it spins. We have Ashwin, Chahal and Zampa, who are outstanding spinners. We have good success with our spinners and traditionally this is a good place to bowl spin."

The Royals will next take on defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday, April 16.