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'He peaked early. That's why runs are not flowing through his bat': Harbhajan on star RR batter ahead of Qualifier 1
IPL 2022: The Rajasthan Royals batter has scored 22, 30, 7, 2 and 2 in his last five innings this season.
The Rajasthan Royals have been a surprise package of IPL 2022. Having finished the group stage as the No. 2 team on the IPL points table, the Royals stand one win away from reaching their second final. The last time they did, they won, way back in 2008. And this time around, RR have a strong chance of becoming only the fourth franchise to win multiple IPL titles. RR have been nothing less than inspirational this year, with all-rounder performances from top to bottom, easing their way to the Playoffs, and ahead of Qualifier 1 against Gujarat Titans, the Royals will really hope for one person to blast through.
Jos Buttler set the ongoing edition of the IPL on fire, scoring 629 runs from 14 matches and is the leading run-scorer of the tournament, ahead of second-placed KL Rahul KL by a good 92-run margin. However, Buttler's bat has gone slightly quiet in the last five matches, with scores of 22, 30, 7, 2 and 2. Heading into Qualifier 1, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh feels Buttler will have to make an effort to understand the Kolkata pitch, which promises to be a stiff task.
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"Jos Buttler will have to adjust to the pitches in Kolkata. The pitches in Maharashtra have slowed down as the tournament reached its business end but the Eden Gardens track will be fresh, so not just Buttler, every batter will have to make that necessary adjustment," Harbhajan said on the Cricket Live Show on Star Sports.
Harbhajan reckons that for Buttler to fire again for RR at the top, the England batter will need to go back to scratch. Buttler will be playing outside of Maharashtra this IPL season for the first time and the Eden Gardens will not be easy pickings for any batter.
"Coming to Buttler, I feel that he seems to have peaked very early and that is a reason why runs are not flowing through his bat in the latter part of the tournament. He's a great player and he'll have to go back to his basics to regain his form," mentioned the former India off-spinner.
