IPL 2020: Jos Buttler picks famous Indian cricketer as choice for quarantine partner

With the United Kingdom currently under coronavirus lockdown, England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler seems to be enjoying his break from the game by spending precipus time with his wife and daughter. However, Buttler has expressed hope for at least a shortened Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) season this year even though he is aware that it would be a difficult task to do so. The much-anticipated tournament was originally scheduled to commence on March 29 with a match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) postponed IPL 2020 until further notice due to the outbreak caused by the highly contagious coronavirus.

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Jos Buttler hopes for IPL 2020

On a podcast with an England-based sports outlet, Jos Buttler described IPL 2020 as a “massive tournament” and hoped for a shortened tournament. While the IPL 2020 has been postponed by BCCI, the dynamic cricketer also said that there is no new update regarding the tournament’s future yet. He added that it is hard to see the situation improving in the future due to the worldwide impact of coronavirus.

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Jos Buttler recalls ‘R Ashwin mankad’ ahead of IPL 2020

When asked about who would he pick as his self-isolation partner during this period, Buttler hilariously replied by mentioning Ravichandran Ashwin. He said that he will pick Ravichandran Ashwin because ever since he got “mankaded” by the Indian spinner in the IPL 2019, he has been getting tweets and emails like “Stay safe, don’t go outside” with pictures of the incident.

The story behind ‘R Ashwin mankad’ incident

To recollect the event, the 2019 World Cup-winning cricketer was referring to the ‘R Ashwin mankad’ incident which occurred in IPL 2019 in a match between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). The Royals were chasing 185 for victory and were in a comfortable position at one stage. Buttler himself was going great guns at 69 before he was controversially 'mankaded' by KXIP captain Ravichandran Ashwin.

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Jos Buttler in IPL 2020 and IPL postponed

If IPL 2020 went ahead as planned, Jos Buttler was slated to reprise his role as a Rajasthan Royals top-order batter in the upcoming season. During the IPL 2020 trading window, the attacking batsman was retained by the franchise for ₹4.4 crore. However, fans of the franchise might have to wait a while to see their favourite stars in action.

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