Cricketers often draw inspiration from athletes representing different sports. Jos Buttler who is one of the most exciting cricketers in the world named his all-time top 3 favourite athletes. The England wicket-keeper revealed it while having a conversation with former women’s player of England Isa Guha on Instagram.
Buttler named three iconic sports personalities that have dominated their respected sports for several years. The cricketer took the names of Lionel Messi, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods. Buttler pointed out the qualities of all three sportsmen that make them legendary and an inspiration for all athletes.
Buttler described Messi as a ‘genius’ and stated that he has always been in awe of his simplicity with which he plays football. Next, he talked about his childhood hero 20-time grand slam champion Roger Federer. The quality that separates Federer from the rest according to Buttler is the grace with which he plays on the tennis court. Lastly, he mentioned Tiger Woods attribute that he wants is the competitiveness and work ethic of the Golf maestro.
“No.3 is Lionel Messi. It is basically the genius of being able to…what I love about Messi is his simplicity of what he does. The brilliance of it and the genius of it. No.2 is Roger Federer. And I have gone for the grace of Federer. I loved tennis growing up and I have always loved the fabulous manner in which he can play.
Virat Kohli right up there with these legends – Jos Buttler
He makes tennis look incredibly easy and his style is absolutely incredible. When he pulls off that forehand, backhand, the grace, and the way he moves around the court. I wish I can have that attribute, as I don’t think I am a very graceful batter at times.”
“No.1 is Tiger Woods and I have gone with the competitiveness and the work ethic. He’s probably got grace and genius as well arguably as much as the other two, but it’s just that competitive instinct and will to win”, said Buttler to Isa Guha on Instagram.
Jos Buttler then summed it up and said that all these attributes are present in Virat Kohli. The cricketer like many other cricketers has several times lauded the work ethic and commitment of the Indian skipper. When asked how many World Cup matches will he win with those qualities in future.
He said, “I’m winning every game…I’ve pretty much made Virat Kohli there actually”.
Jos Buttler is currently part of the intra-squad warm-up game in Southampton. The wicketkeeper-batsman is leading his side against Ben Stokes team to prepare for their upcoming series.
England will play against in a three-Test match series that starts from July 8. Stokes has been named the captain for the first Test in absence of Joe Root. Whereas Jos Buttler will be the vice-captain for the opening Test match.
