Buttler follows ‘mind-blowing’ De Villiers

DUBAI: Swashbuckling England wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler on Saturday admitted he follows South African master blaster AB de Villiers in batting, which led him to smash the fastest one-day hundred for his country.
Buttler, 25, smashed 52-ball 116 not out in the fourth day-night international against Pakistan in Dubai on Friday, completing his hundred off just 46 balls.
It was the joint seventh fastest one-day hundred in all one-day cricket.
De Villiers holds the record for the fastest one-day hundred off 31 balls he smashed against the West Indies at Johannesburg in January this year.
Buttler said the invention of Twenty20 and De Villiers are reasons for his big hitting.
“As everyone always says, the invention of T20, and someone like De Villiers is someone who’s changed the game completely, and everyone else is wanting to follow his lead,” said Buttler.
Buttler said he likes to emulate De Villiers and other big hitters. “The consistency he (De Villiers) shows is mind-blowing, to score at that rate. Everyone is watching the game evolve, and every player is a cricket fan, so they watch a lot of cricket. To see guys like him and all the others who do that sort of thing, you want to emulate that.”