Brendon McCullum, England’s newly appointed Test coach has hinted at a possible return to red-ball duty for IPL 2022 Orange cap holder keeper Jos Buttler. England’s new Test coach Brendon McCullum has hinted at a possible return to red-ball duty for Jos Buttler following a blistering run-spree in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2022.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler was dropped after a lackluster return during England’s woeful 4-0 Ashes series loss in Australia. Despite being one of the world’s best white-ball run-scorers, the 31-year-old averages a modest 31.94 in Test cricket.

Brendon McCullum

There was no place for Jos Buttler in England’s squad for next week’s opening Test against Brendon McCullum’s country New Zealand at Lord’s, with Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow selected ahead of what will be the new coach’s first game in charge.

Jos Buttler, however, has been in spectacular form for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, powering the team into Sunday’s final of the IPL 2022 on the back of four centuries in 16 games, with an average of 58.85 and a stunning strike rate of 151.47.

He had amassed 824 runs in IPL 2022 so far and had scored the most number of centuries in IPL equalling Virat Kohli’s record. Earlier, Virat Kohli held the record with four centuries to his name in 2016. In the same year, he scored 973 runs, which is the highest by any player in the history of IPL.

Brendon McCullum, who saw Jos Buttler’s brilliance in the IPL first-hand as coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders, is clearly intrigued by the possibility of getting more out of a player who, for all his undoubted talent, has so far managed just two centuries in exactly 100 Test innings.

“Jos 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 guys you look at and think there’s a lot of talent that could improve the side given the right opportunity. There’s no reason why, if you’re good at T20, you can’t bring those skills into Test cricket and you look at some of the guys who have dominated the IPL in the last two months.”

Wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler was dropped by England after averaging 15.28 during last winter’s Ashes and has scored just two hundred in 100 Test innings throughout his career. The 31-year-old has lit up the IPL this season, scoring four centuries and 824 runs in total for Rajasthan Royals ahead of Sunday’s final against Gujarat Titans.

Brendon McCullum Open To Reviving Retired Moeen Ali And Adil Rashid’s Test Careers

Brendon McCullum is also open to reviving the Test careers of spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, even though the former is officially retired from Test cricket. 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.

“Obviously you’ve got the likes of Livingstone, Moeen, Rashid,” said McCullum.

“All these guys have played international cricket before, been successful in the other forms of the game and you’d think they’d be able to transition across.”

Brendon McCullum believes Jos Buttler can succeed in Test cricket; plans to speak to Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, and Liam Livingstone about whether they want to be part of England’s red-ball revamp.

Ali is currently retired from Test cricket while Adil Rashid has not played a red-ball game since January 2019. Lancashire batter Liam Livingstone has featured in 20 white-ball internationals for England but is yet to play a Test match.

England squad for the New Zealand Test series:

Ben Stokes (C), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes (WK), Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Craig Overton, Matthew Potts, Ollie Pope, Joe Root.