LEEDS: Jos Buttler expressed his excitement for the mouth-watering battle between England’s strong batting and Pakistan’s renowned bowling in the upcoming four-match T20I series, scheduled to commence on Wednesday.
Buttler, while addressing the pre-series conference here at Headingley, talked about the various aspects of the all-important T20I series against Pakistan in a build-up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
The wicketkeeper batter, however, looks forward the most to the “exciting” clash between his side’s explosive batting abilities and Pakistan’s bowling, which is considered their strength in world cricket.
“I think, we have fantastic batters, including myself and I’m always probably aware of the fantastic bowlers they have like Shaheen, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah,” stated Buttler.
“It would be a really good test with that seam bowling unit so we are looking forward to that challenge,” he added.
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Jos Buttler then provided an update regarding the returning Jofra Archer, stating that the right-arm speedster is completely and bowling fast in the nets.
“Big smile on his face. It’s great to see him back and fit and bowling fast, just being back around the group. I know how much he’s missed that so to have him in the sport is fantastic.
“Yeah, [I] faced him in the nets. It’s never that fun but yeah, he’s looking great,” he added.
For the unversed, the four-match T20I series between Pakistan and England, scheduled to run from May 22 to 30, will serve as a warm-up for both teams heading into the T20 World Cup 2024.
Pakistan squad:
Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Usman Khan.
England squad:
Jos Buttler (c), Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tom Hartley, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Reece Topley.
Pak vs Eng T20I series schedule:
1st T20I: Wed, May 22nd
2nd T20I: Sat, May 25th
3rd T20I: Tue, May 28th
4th T20I: Thu, May 30th