Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) is set to offer a massive four-year deal to England's white-ball captain Jos Buttler. Buttler who joined RR in IPL 2018 has been a vital cog of the wheel for the franchise as he has piled on runs at an average of 42.12.
As per a report by 'The Telegraph', Buttler is yet to be offered the deal. So far, it is not clear whether he is willing to accept the deal or not. Apart from RR, Buttler also plays for Paarl Royals in South Africa's SA20 league. RR also own Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise Barbados Royals.
In six seasons, Buttler has scored 2,696 runs from 71 innings at an average of 42.12 including five centuries and 18 half-centuries. He is the second-highest run-scorer for Royals. Only captain Sanju Samson is ahead of him with 3,403 runs. In IPL 2022, he scored 863 runs, third most in the history of the league in a season.
Before Buttler, England’s Barabados-born pacer Jofra Archer was reportedly offered a similar deal by five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI).
With the advent of T20 leagues across the world, more players are likely to get offered lucrative deals. Recently, England opener Jason Roy was roped in by LA Knight Riders for the inaugural season of UAE's International T20 League (ILT20). However, he had to let go of ECB's incremental contract.
Several former cricketers have expressed their fears about players chosing franchise T20 leagues over international cricket. Current head coach Brendon McCullum feels that the threat is real and more players will accept multi-year deals.
"In the end, the game is going in a different direction. In the last few years, there's been a shifting of the sand somewhat around international cricket and we'd be completely naive to think that players would turn down huge amounts of money on long-term contracts for a lot less work in these T20 leagues because they should be playing international cricket. Those days are fast approaching to be over," McCullum had told SENZ Breakfast show.
