Jos Buttler is standing at the threshold of a major ODI milestone ahead of the first ODI between England and West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. The match in North Sound, Antigua is an opportunity for the two teams to draw first blood in the series and for Buttler to not only put the World Cup demons to bed but also to get his name etched in England's cricketing history.
England's white-ball skipper had a World Cup to forget. He could only score 138 runs in nine games at a below-par average of 15.33 and a strike rate of 97.18. His forgettable run with the bat had a debilitating effect on his on-field leadership.
The Three Lions were staring down the barrel at one stage and were also under the threat of not qualifying for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. However, a late resurgence turned their fortunes around as they finished at the seventh spot on the points table following the conclusion of the round-robin stage and sealed a berth at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
With the World Cup done, England have the opportunity to regain the trust of their fans and their stature as they meet a young West Indian side in a three-match ODI series.
Notably, Buttler is just 39 runs away from scaling the milestone of 5000 ODI runs and if he gets there in the first ODI then he will surpass India's legendary batter Yuvraj Singh in terms of innings taken. Yuvraj took 164 innings to amass 5000 runs in One-Day cricket and Buttler has played just 151 innings thus far.
If Buttler scores his 5000th ODI run in the first fixture then he'll become the third-fastest English batter to score that many amount of runs. Joe Root currently holds the record as he took just 116 innings to aggregate 5000 runs in ODIs whereas Ian Bell is second on the list with 149 innings.
