Taunton-born England batsman Jos Buttler says India greats Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid’s big hundreds in the 1999 World Cup match against Sri Lanka at his home venue had an “incredible impact” on him.
Sourav and Dravid had stitched together a partnership of 318 runs for the second wicket to set up an easy victory for Mohammed Azharuddin-led India.
That was long before the T20 revolution took the game by storm but, on that day in Taunton (May 26, 1999), sixes and fours rained down from the blades of the two Indian batsmen, something the destructive Buttler often does these days.
“Those were my formative years and watching that game with Sourav and Dravid scoring big hundreds had an incredible impact,” Buttler told a cricket-specific website.
Sourav scored 183 with the help of 17 fours and seven sixes, while Dravid’s 145 had 17 boundaries and one six.
The pair had left a slew of records in their wake that made a huge impression on the then 9-year-old Buttler.
Sourav and Dravid’s partnership of 318 in 45 overs was the highest in any limited-overs international at that point in time, surpassing the previous record of 275 set by Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja against Zimbabwe in 1997-98.
Huge crowd
Buttler, 30, said he was surprised by the massive Indian presence in the crowd for a match in England.
“India versus Sri Lanka in 1999 World Cup was my first experience of seeing Indian crowds and that ignites the fire of how passionate people are about the game and how cool it would be to play in a World Cup,” added Buttler.
Buttler also said he is fascinated by Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s calmness and brilliance. He cited his winning six in the final of the 2011 World Cup, but what struck Buttler was there was hardly any celebration from Dhoni despite the enormity of the occasion.
“I love the shot of him hitting that six to win the World Cup and then he twirls his bat around. That was all he gave you. It is probably the biggest moment in Indian cricket history and he still just pulls it off with such composure. I love watching him play.”
“I like that about him, made me intrigued about him. It is quite amazing trying to think what he is thinking about, why is he not riding the emotions of the game. He always kept people guessing like that. I like the way he does things because they make sense to him. It doesn’t look like he worries too much about what it looks like,” said Buttler.
