IPL 2025: ‘Felt Strange, But Was Desperate For Win’ - Jos Buttler Reacts After Facing Rajasthan Royals

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Jos Buttler admitted that it felt strange to face Rajasthan Royals after the long stint with the franchise, but the England wicketkeeper said he was even more desperate for a Gujarat Titans win when the two sides locked horns in IPL 2025.

After spending seven season with the Royals, Buttler was bought by GT at the IPL Mega Auction last year for Rs 15.75 Crore. The 34-year-old went up against his former team for the first on Wednesday (April 9), when he scored 36 off 25 balls as the Titans registered a 58-run victory in Ahmedabad.

RR skipper Sanju Samson had earlier revealed that releasing Buttler was one of the toughest decisions to make and he is yet to digest from the England stumper's exit. But for the new GT wicketkeeper winning against his former team was more important.

"It did feel a bit strange being on the other side against Rajasthan Royals. But to be honest, I was even more desperate for the win today," Buttler said when speaking on JioHotstar after the match.

Buttler shared an 80-run stand with Sai Sudharsan, who made an impressive 82 off 53 balls to take GT to 217 in their allotted 20 overs before Prasidh Krishna starred with the ball to bundle out the Royals for 159.

Reflecting on the win, Buttler said the entire team contributed to the success before adding that he is really enjoying the new challenge, batting at number 3, a role which he has been used to on national duty.

"I think it was an excellent team performance. I'm really enjoying the new challenge. I've been batting at No. 3 for England recently, so it's not unfamiliar. It helps that I'm coming in behind two fantastic openers who usually lay a strong platform. If there's any swing, they deal with it, and I get to walk in once the ball stops moving, which is quite nice," Buttler added.

Meanwhile, Jiostar experts Robin Uthappa and Shane Watson also criticized the Rajasthan Royals for letting go of some key players, especially Buttler, who has a very good connect with skipper Samson.

"And I think that's where RR got it wrong in the in the auctions didn't they. I think the fact that they let the likes of Jos Butler go, Ashwin go, Yuzi Chahal go, they just left too many holes," said Uthappa on Star Sports.

Watson echoed Uthappa and said, "The connection that Sanju has as a leader with Jos Butler really does have a huge influence in and around the group as well. So there are other factors around not just your cricket performance on the field that add so much value, which is why it just continues to blow me away that the Rajasthan Royals didn't retain him."

Buttler represented the Rajasthan Royals for seven seasons from the 2018 season to 2024 edition, playing a pivotal role in their run to the final in the 2022 season, scoring 863 runs from 17 innings.

Overall, the England star was the second highest run-getter for the Royals behind Samson, amassing 3055 runs including 7 centuries and 18 fifties in 82 innings at an average of 41.84 and strike rate of 147.79.

Royals, who released Buttler, opted to retain Samson (Rs 18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rs 18 crore), Riyan Parag (Rs 14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (Rs 14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (Rs 11 crore), and Sandeep Sharma (Rs 4 crore).