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Gujarat Titans assistant coach Parthiv Patel on Sunday opened up on adding England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler to the squad and said that they are very happy to have the 34-year-old on their side ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season.
Jos Buttler was sold to Gujarat Titans (GT) at a massive price of Rs 15.75 crore. Rajasthan Royal (RR) started the bidding for the English batter, and later Gujarat Titans (GT), Punjab Kings (PBKS), and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) came into the bidding war. However, in the end, the Titans made the highest bid and bagged Buttler into the squad. Speaking on the sidelines of the IPL 2025 mega-auction, Parthiv said that Buttler can help Shubman Gill during batting. "Very happy to have Jos Buttler in our side. He can bat anywhere, he can keep as well, he can help Shubman also. We wanted to buy our no. 1 bowler and no. 1 batter from the marquee set and we have both," Parthiv was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying. GT's director of cricket Vikram Solanki said that the team management is very happy with the team they have got. "We've very happy with the team we've got. There's a small number of players in these first two sets and we played our part, according to our plan. The team is starting to take shape but we still need to fill slots and be smart. Actually, a number of very good players come tomorrow as well," Solanki said. Buttler is one of finest white-ball batters of this generation, with 11,929 runs, eight centuries and 83 fifties to his name in 427 T20s. A T20 World Cup-winning captain for England, Buttler made a name for himself in the IPL during his stint with Rajasthan Royals (RR) from 2018 to 2024. For RR since 2018, Buttler scored 3,055 runs at an average of 41.84 and a strike rate of 147.79, with 7 centuries and 18 fifties. His best score was 124. He is the team's third-highest run-getter of all time. The IPL 2022, in which RR finished as runners-up, was the zenith of Buttler's career, as he ended up on the top of run-scoring charts, with 863 runs in 17 matches at an average of 57.53 and a strike rate of over 149, with four centuries and four fifties. His best score was 116. In the last season, Buttler scored 359 runs in 11 matches at an average of 39.88, with two centuries. Buttler also represented Mumbai Indians (MI) from 2016-17, scoring 527 runs in 24 matches with one half-century. He won the title with them in 2017. In the 2024 season, GT faced a significant downturn after finishing as champions in 2022 and runners-up in 2023, managing only five wins and seven losses. With just 12 points, they ended the season in the eighth position. (ANI)
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