Jos Buttler's Indian Summer: A thorough statistical analysis of RR batsman's IPL 2022 campaign

IPL 2022 was a fairytale for Rajasthan Royals' opener Jos Buttler. There is no other way to describe it. Nicknamed 'Jos the Boss' for his blistering style of batting, the 31-year-old opener lived up to his nickname and bossed the whole season.

Starting the campaign with a brisk knock of 39 against the Gujarat Titans, Buttler starred throughout it and ended the tournament with a tally of 863 runs from 17 innings. He had an outstanding average of 57.53 and a sparkling strike rate of 149.05.

Not one, not two, not three. The 31-year-old struck four hundreds in an unforgettable season, including back-to-back hurricane tons - against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Brabourne Stadium, and against Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium.

On a hot streak, Buttler displayed an insatiable hunger for scoring runs. His tally of 863 was ornamented with four centuries and as many half-centuries.

Not only is this the highest Jos Buttler has ever scored in a single IPL season, it is also the second-most runs scored by any batter in an IPL season. He is only behind Virat Kohli who scored 973 runs for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2016 season.

First picked in the IPL for Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians in the ninth edition of the league, Buttler has since aggregated 255 runs (in 2016), 272 runs (in 2017), 548 runs (in 2018), 311 runs (in 2019), 328 runs (in 2020), and 254 runs (in 2021).

Breakdown of Jos Buttler's scoring prowess in IPL 2022

No matter whether the ball was new or old, no matter whether it was pace or spin, Buttler looked impenetrable and in world-beating touch. Against 421 balls of pace he faced, Buttler made 620 runs - a scoring rate of 8.8 runs per over. His scoring rate against the 26.2 overs of spin he faced in the tournament is even better and rises to 9.3 runs per over.

Breakdown of Jos Buttler's runs in IPL 2022 by bowling type

The table below breaks down the 863 runs Jos Buttler scored in IPL 2022 by bowling type.

Bowling Type	Runs	Balls	Strike Rate
Off Spin	86	50	172
Leg Spin	75	56	133.92
Left-arm spin	82	52	157.69
Right-arm Pace	458	311	147.26
Left-arm Pace	162	110	147.27

Opening the batting in all 17 matches, Buttler twice stayed until the end of the innings, thereby advertising his credentials to bat in all three phases of a T20 game.

He adroitly exploited the Powerplay fielding restrictions and scored at more than 8 runs per over. Then, the Englishman ably batted through the middle overs, where he scored about 42% of his total runs, and exploded in the death overs where he boasted an astonishing strike rate of more than 200.

The table below breaks down the 863 runs Jos Buttler scored in IPL 2022 by match phase.

Phase	Runs	Balls
Powerplay (1-6)	374	280
Middle Overs (7-15)	366	247
Death Overs (16-20)	123	52

Buttler, who plays as a wicketkeeper-opener for England in T20Is, was seen patrolling the outfield as Rajasthan Royals' skipper Sanju Samson donned the wicketkeeping gloves. He snagged nine catches in the field, including a magnificent catch off Ashwin's bowling at mid-on to dismiss Punjab Kings' opener Shikhar Dhawan.

Winner of this edition's Orange Cap, Buttler bagged ₹60 lakhs (£61,123) and scooped the Player of the Tournament award at the closing ceremony. In addition, he also ended up, deservedly, fetching the tournament's most valuable player award. The Royals batsman also snapped up the awards for the highest number of boundaries and sixes.