Buttler credits Sangakkara for building his self-belief
Guys like Kohli, Dhoni keep believing and that is what I tried to do, says the impact RR player after record run chase
Jos Buttler has seen crazy things happen in the IPL and he drew inspiration from the likes of Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni to single-handedly pull off the highest run chase in the tournament's history here.
Buttler smashed an unbeaten 107 off 60 balls as Rajasthan Royals came back from the dead to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by two wickets on Tuesday night. Fittingly, Buttler hit the winning runs.
The Englishman was struggling to even walk towards the end but didn't give up. Chasing a record 224, Royals were 121 for six in the 13th over.
"Keep believing, that was the real key today. I was struggling a bit for rhythm. At times you feel frustrated or you are questioning yourself. I tell myself it's okay, keep going, you'll get your rhythm back and try to stay calm.
"There's been plenty of times throughout the IPL, you've seen crazy things happen. Guys like Dhoni and Kohli, the way they stay till the end and keep believing and I tried to do the same," Buttler said at the post-match presentation.
Both Dhoni and Kohli have played some exhilarating knocks in the ongoing tournament even though the latter has not found enough support from his team and has mostly ended up on the wrong side of the results so far.
Buttler also credited head coach Kumar Sangakkara for building his self-belief.
"That's something Sanagakkara has told me a lot there's always a breaking point. The worse thing you can do is to not fight and give your wicket away.
"He (Sangakkara) just tells me to stay there and at some point, the momentum will change. That's been a big part of my play over the last few years."