Buttler admits fault in Mankad dismissal

As England return to Edgbaston to face Sri Lanka, the venue and opposition for Jos Buttler’s Mankad contentious mankad dismissal two years ago, the wicketkeeper has admitted fault for his part in the incident.

In a 2014 ODI at the Birmingham ground, Buttler was dismissed when he was run out by Sri Lanka off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake at the non-striker’s end in his delivery stride, having been previously warned for leaving his crease too early.

The mankad provoked boos from the Edgbaston crowd and England captain Alastair Cook later suggested a “line had been crossed” by Senanayake and Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena.

And while Buttler also expressed his displeasure with Sri Lanka’s tactics at the time, the 25-year-old now concedes he was in the wrong.

“It is obviously batsman error,” Buttler said. “If you walk out of your ground and someone wants to do it, it is in the laws of the game. It is all part of the game. 

“I was disappointed at the time, because it doesn't happen very often. I thought you could do that every ball if you wanted and there would be a chance to run someone out.

“But the bowler would say why don't you just stay in your crease? So I guess I did learn something from it.”

England completed a remarkable comeback in the first ODI of this year’s series at Trent Bridge, recovering from 6-82 chasing Sri Lanka’s 286 to record a thrilling tie as Liam Plunkett belted a six the bring the scores level on the final delivery of the match.

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Their approach highlighted both risk and reward elements inherent in England’s new fearless brand of limited-overs cricket and Buttler believes they need to continue their aggressive ways.

“If anything we should come out and play even more shots,” he said. “That's the way we want to play our cricket. We want to put teams under pressure and there's no reason to change.

“This style of cricket has been good fun to play in and has given us some success.”

One of the key figures England’s new regime, Joe Root, has recently suffered a notable dip in form, having scored in double-figures just once in his past five international innings.

It’s been a small blip for Root in an otherwise sparkling international career and while Buttler backed his teammate to return to his run-scoring ways, he also indicated the right-hander may benefit from a rest at some stage during the England summer. 

“He's one of the best in the world and it's probably just because of the high standards he's set,” Buttler said. “I'm sure he'll bounce back.

“He plays all forms of the game and I think that's something England management always have to be careful with. 

“He's a very important player and if he needs a rest he'll say he needs a rest and that will happen.”