IPL 2022: Rohit Sharma makes admission about Jos Buttler after RR beat MI

Rohit Sharma heaped praise on Rajasthan Royals (RR) batsman Jos Buttler, who scored a century against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 on Saturday.

Buttler batted till the 19th over of the first innings and scored a 68-ball 100. While the RR batsman is the first player to score a century in the ongoing season, he became only the 16th batter in the history of IPL to hit more than one hundred. He emulated Ben Stokes by becoming the second England batter to do so.

Among the overseas batsmen, Buttler is the ninth player to have two or more centuries in the cash-rich IPL after Chris Gayle (6), Adam Gilchrist (2), David Warner (4), Shane Watson (4), AB de Villiers (2), Brendon McCullum (2), Ben Stokes (2), and Hashim Amla (2).

Buttler's century helped RR to post 193 runs on the board in the first innings at DY Patil Stadium. Unfortunately, Rohit-led MI fell short by 23 runs.

https://twitter.com/rajasthanroyals/status/1510265195226365961

In a post-match interview, Rohit admitted that his bowlers tried everything to get Buttler out but the English hitter was "exceptional".

"I thought they batted pretty well to get to 193. Buttler played an exceptional innings. We tried everything to get him out but he played really well. I thought 193 on that pitch could have been chased, especially when we needed 70 off 7 overs. But these things can happen as it is early days in the tournament, we can learn from that and come out better," said Rohit.

MI, who are yet to register a win in the IPL 2022, have lost both their opening games.

Speaking about his side's positives in the loss to RR, Rohit said," Bumrah bowling well, [Tymal] Mills too, Tilak's [Varma] batting was exceptional and so was Ishan's [Kishan]. I think one of those two should have batted through. The other side is big and we wanted to make the batters hit to that side, but it happens when you come up against a quality batter like Buttler," the MI skipper added.

MI have been without their key batsman Suryakumar Yadav. He suffered a finger injury during India's home series against West Indies earlier this year. The India batsman returned to training earlier this week and should be available to play soon.

"He (SKY) is a key player for us. Once he is fit he will come straight back. These finger injuries can be tricky and we want to give him time.," said Rohit.

IPL 2022: Was a bit nervous at halfway mark, says Jos Buttler

Meanwhile, Buttler said he was delighted to help RR win on Saturday against the five-time IPL winners, MI.

"Feels fantastic to contribute to a win. Was a bit nervous at the halfway mark, wondering if the innings will result in a win or not. The last few months have been wonderful, so just carrying on from there. Family time has helped me to relax and refresh. I always have confidence coming into white-ball cricket, that's where my strength is. It (diving catch) was a good one for me, delighted to take that and it was a good phase of cricket for us. Ashwin taking a wicket and then Chahal striking twice," Buttler said after the game in Mumbai.

RR have a two-day break before they take on spirited Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Tuesday (April 5) at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. MI, on the other hand, face off against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday in Pune.