Buttler opens up on poor outings, Joe Root's motivating words prior to Manchester heroics

After breaking his streak of poor performances at Manchester, wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler revealed that he had thoughts of being dropped from the squad if he failed to perform. Guiding England to victory in the first Test, Buttler played a spectacular inning of 75 runs under pressure. Buttler had been struggling for a while with the bat and behind the wicket as well. 

“At times there’s been some lonely nights thinking about it. Definitely thoughts go through your head. ‘Potentially if I don’t score any runs, I’ve played my last game’ - those are the kind of things that are in your head. I’m aware I didn’t keep well, I missed some chances and at this level, you can’t afford to do that no matter how many runs you score. You’ve got to be better, I know that," Buttler told Sky Sports.

READ | Buttler, Woakes Help England Bounce Back From Early Pakistan Blows To Clinch 1st Test

The wicketkeeper-batsman also revealed how skipper Joe Root motivated him before the match by reminding him of his capabilities. “Joe actually said before, ‘remember who you are, you enjoy chasing targets down, try to limit it to a one-day game’,” Buttler said. 

England draw first blood

After being bowled out early in the first innings, Pakistan had set a target of 276 for the Englishmen. Pakistan struck early as they got rid of Rory Burns, but skipper Joe Root and Dominic Sibley got together to stitch a partnership. The partnership was then broken by visitors' first inning hero - Yasir Shah - as he sent back Sibley. A brilliant delivery by young gun Naseem Shah sent Root packing and Shah struck again as he got the key scalp of all-rounder Ben Stokes early in his innings. After Pope fell, Butler and Woakes came out all guns blazing and snatched a three-wicket victory. 

READ | Harsha Bhogle Lauds Jos Buttler & Chris Woakes For Anchoring The English Run Chase

Masood, Shah's heroics go in vain

Yasir Shah's key 4 wickets in the first innings and two in the second innings were lost in vain in the match. Opener Shan Masood's heroics which included a brilliant century was also washed down the drain. Masood scored 159 runs in his first innings as he held one side strong while his teammates constantly lost their wicket on the other side. Masood's 159 and Abbas' initial spell also turned the tables in Pakistan's favour, however, a wonderful comeback by Jos Butler helped England clinch the first Test. 

READ | Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes Lead England To 3-wicket Win Over Pakistan