Buttler Eyes IPL 2026 Fresh Start at Gujarat Titans After Dismal T20 World Cup
Jos Buttler has been here before. At the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, he managed 191 runs in six innings as England’s campaign ended in the semi-finals against India. He admitted it was a “poor tournament” but insisted he still had plenty to offer.
Two years on, the numbers tell a different story. At the 2026 T20 World Cup in India, Buttler scored just 87 runs across eight innings, averaging 10.87 with a strike rate of 116. England again reached the semi-finals. India again knocked them out. His bat was quiet throughout.
It is a jarring decline for a player who hit 269 runs at the 2021 T20 World Cup and followed it with 225 runs at the 2022 edition in Australia, where England lifted the trophy. Back then, Buttler in full flight was one of the most destructive sights in white-ball cricket. Now the question is whether that version of him still exists.
A new franchise, a fresh page
Buttler took a short break from cricket after the World Cup, stepping away to recharge before joining the Gujarat Titans for IPL 2026 pre-season. The franchise paid 15.75 crore rupees for him at auction, and he arrived speaking positively about the setup.
“I’ve been really impressed with the facilities and the environment here,” Buttler said, framing the move as a chance to reset. After years with Rajasthan Royals, where he won the Orange Cap in 2022 with 863 runs and four centuries, this is unfamiliar territory. New teammates, new management, a different dressing room.
The IPL has always been kind to him
Buttler’s IPL record tells a different story from his recent international form. Across 121 matches, he has scored 4,120 runs at an average of 40.00, with seven centuries and 24 half-centuries. Last season with Gujarat, he scored 538 runs in 14 matches and helped the side reach the playoffs, including an unbeaten 97 against Delhi Capitals that sealed the franchise’s highest successful run chase.
The IPL has always suited Buttler. Flat pitches, short boundaries, fast outfields, and the freedom of knowing his franchise needs him to go hard from ball one. The World Cup asked something different: gritty starts on slower surfaces against relentless bowling attacks. It was a tournament that kept exposing his early vulnerability, and he never found a way around it.
The age question
Buttler turns 36 in September. Two consecutive poor World Cup campaigns raise unavoidable questions about his international future. He has said nothing definitive, but the whispers grow louder each time he falls cheaply on the big stage. A dominant IPL 2026 would push them back. Another quiet stretch would bring them closer to an answer nobody at the ECB seems eager to give.
Gujarat Titans open their campaign on March 31 when the IPL 2026 season gets underway. Twelve days to get his head right, find his rhythm in the nets and give people a reason to remember the player who once won tournaments almost on his own.
