London, March 19 England's batting mainstay, Jos Buttler, has said that taking time away from cricket after a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign should put him in a good position as he looks for a fresh start with the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League, which begins later this month.
Former England captain Buttler continued to receive the team's support even as his scores dwindled during the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, a lean patch for one of the country's most prominent white-ball batters.
Buttler managed just 87 runs across eight matches at an average of 10.87, with a forgettable strike rate of 116, while opening the batting for England at the World Cup. England were eliminated from the tournament after losing to India in a high-scoring semi-final in Mumbai.
The 35-year-old hopes that the break he took from the game since that semi-final on March 5 will help him heading into the IPL, which starts on March 28.
"I couldn't have been further away from cricket, which, at the time, was just perfect for me. It was exactly what I needed," Buttler said on the 'For the Love of Cricket' podcast.
"Obviously, the tournament didn't go personally as I would have liked. I just felt like I needed some space (away) from cricket and not to think about the game, and I couldn't have been further away from cricket, where I was during that week," he said.
The Gujarat Titans, winners of the 2022 IPL, will begin their campaign on March 31 with an away game against the Punjab Kings.
Buttler said the break was energizing, which also gave him time to reflect.
"It was really refreshing – I really enjoyed it – a complete sort of release," he said.
"Slowly but surely, I'd say at the start of this week, I'm just starting to reflect a bit and have a few thoughts about what's important to me and my cricket, and why it probably didn't go quite as I would have liked," he said.
Buttler said his lack of runs in the T20 World Cup was not due to lack of effort, since in the lead-up to the semi-final against India, he had spent the longest possible time in the nets trying to get back into form. But what followed was another scratchy 25 runs off 17 balls.
"There are elements (to what went wrong) that I actually don't really know exactly. For all your best intentions and hard work and efforts to perform, it just didn't work, and sometimes that's okay as well. That's something I've had to realise. It wasn't for a lack of effort; it just didn't quite happen," he said.