Jos Buttler wants to emulate the world's best in the NatWest T20 Blast
Jos Buttler is determined to match the power striking of international stars Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers during this season’s NatWest T20 Blast.
The England wicketkeeper-batsman saw first-hand how destructive both batsmen are during the World Twenty20 and - while he has forged his own reputation for the unconventional - he believes he has learned a trick or two as he prepares to lead Lancashire Lightning’s charge.
“Watching guys like Virat Kohli - who had an unbelievable tournament - he along with AB de Villiers are probably head and shoulders above the rest at the minute,” he told ecb.co.uk.
“De Villiers played that amazing knock against England so I watched that, and you want to emulate these guys and learn from watching them.”
The 23-year-old will make his T20 debut for the Lightning against Nottinghamshire Outlaws on Friday night after his winter move from Somerset.
While the Lightning’s opener is at Trent Bridge, Buttler is looking forward to entertaining his new home crowd when he makes his Emirates Old Trafford bow.
“I’m really excited for it to start,” he said.
“It should be good fun on Friday nights and hopefully we’ll get some really good crowds and play some entertaining cricket.
“Unfortunately the boundaries might be a bit bigger (at Old Trafford) than at Taunton but it should be a really good atmosphere.
"It is a really impressive ground now with all the redevelopments and with the good crowds we’ll play some good cricket for them.”