McCullum, who replaced Andy Flower as England’s head coach earlier this month, said that he would love to take bold decisions. Recall of Jos Buttler is a need for the test team as he is one of the talented wicket-keeping batsmen. He has also shown blazing bating in the Indian Premier League.
Buttler was discarded following a poor performance in England’s 4-0 Ashes series loss in Australia. Despite being one of the finest white-ball run-scorers in the world, the 31-year-old only averages 31.94 in Test cricket.
Buttler, however, has been in spectacular form for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, powering the team into Sunday´s final of the Twenty20 franchise competition on the back of four centuries in 16 games, with an average of 58.85 and a stunning strike rate of 151.47.
McCullum, who coached the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL and seen Buttler’s brilliance firsthand, is clearly fascinated by the prospect of squeezing more out of a player who, despite his undeniable potential, has only scored two centuries in precisely 100 Test innings.
“Jos Buttler is one of those players you look at instantly and think how could he be so dominant in one form of the game and not quite have found his feet, other than a few fleeting performances, in Test cricket?,” said former New Zealand captain McCullum, himself renowned as an attacking batsman.
“There are certain players you look at and believe have a lot of potentials to help the team if given the chance. There’s no reason why a player who excels in T20 can’t transfer those talents to Test cricket, as seen by some of the players who have dominated the IPL in recent months.”
McCullum is also open to energizing the Test careers of spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, even though the former is officially retired from red-ball internationals.
And he is also “ready to have a conversation” about giving Liam Livingstone, who struck the fastest T20 century by an England batsman, off 42 balls against Pakistan last year, a chance at the Test level.
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