'They're looking forward to playing together.'
Wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler has moved on from the bitter run-out episode with Ravichandran Ashwin, his franchise Rajasthan Royals said after the premier India off-spinner joined the Englishman in the team for the upcoming IPL 2022 season.
On the first day of the IPL 2022 mega auction, Rajasthan Royals made a successful bid of Rs 5 crore to secure the services of Ashwin. He will now team up with Buttler, who was retained along with Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal by the inaugural edition champions ahead of the auction.
Rajasthan Royals CEO Jake Lush McCrum said they spoke to Buttler about their preferences.
"We spoke to Jos prior to the auction and just talked through all of our prioritisation of players. Honestly, he didn't even think about it (his run-out by Ashwin at the non-striker's end in 2019). I had to sort of bring it up to just check it was okay. And he said 'it's absolutely fine'," Jake said at a media interaction in Bengaluru.
"Maybe he will have to practice in the nets with him. But, otherwise, on the field, they're looking forward to playing together," he added.
The incident made headlines during Rajasthan Royals’ home match against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in Jaipur on March 25, when Ashwin ran out Buttler at the non-strikers end after the batter had backed up too far.
Chasing 185, Rajasthan Royals were going great guns at 108 for 2, with Buttler batting on 69. The controversial run-out triggered a collapse. They finished with 170 for 9 and lost by 14 runs.
Later, Buttler admitted that the incident proved "distracting" and played on his mind in his two next innings.
Rajasthan Royals also acquired West Indies batter Shmron Hetmyer, New Zealand pacer Trent Boult and promising India batter Devdutt Padikkal.
"From our perspective, we secured the targets we were looking for, to have that world class spinner in there. That's really important to us, and then backing it up with a bowler who takes wickets up front and a gun batsman."
"It's a complex auction with so many different scenarios. But, thankfully, we're both in positions where we're happy with at this stage and looking forward to the remaining lots," said Jake.
