By the high standards he has set as arguably England’s first global T20 superstar, Gujarat Titans (GT) batter Jos Buttler has had a forgettable 2026. In 11 T20Is this year for England, he averaged 15.27 and had a strike rate of under 125.

But Buttler, who has begun IPL 2026 with scores of 38 in 33 balls against Punjab Kings (PBKS) and 26 in 14 balls against Rajasthan Royals (RR), says he was trusting his “game” and “experience” to regain the rhythm that has eluded him of late. He wanted to go on and make a match-winning contribution for GT, with the franchise still searching for their first win of the season.

“I feel good actually,” Buttler said on For the Love of Cricket, a podcast he co-hosts with his Stuart Broad. “Feel good with the break after the [T20] World Cup, just get to put the bat down and have some space. Basically, just focusing on myself, and on my set-up and making sure when the ball is released I am in a good position – which I do.

“And then just trusting my game, trusting my experience, and trying to let it happen. I’ve got in some good positions, like getting in with a couple of starts. You always want to go on and make those match-winning contributions, but it’s nice to be feeling calm in the middle and in a good space. Hopefully can keep that going.”

Buttler’s GT team-mate B Sai Sudharsan said on Tuesday that Buttler looked “closer than anyone else” to producing a great innings. Buttler himself was simply focused on staying in the present.

“Every day you start on nought and that’s kind of where I’ve been looking at,” Buttler said. “Just looking forward, not thinking of the past, looking forward to the games, and just trying to be measured and not reading too much into past successes or past failures.

“Sometimes you can – and I have certainly done it at times – get sort of a mental block against a certain bowler or a certain venue, and say ‘this doesn’t work for me, this ground’. Or ‘why can’t I score runs at any ground’ or that kind of mentality. I’m trying to be really distant from that.”

Buttler added that he was enjoying the time spent with GT’s new batting coach Matthew Hayden.

“It’s been great to lean into his experiences,” Buttler said. “He’s a big man, you can just imagine his presence when he was batting, but when he’s speaking one-to-one, that aura is quite good. Getting to experience that has been cool. We’ve been talking about really simple things.”

GT’s next game is against Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday. Buttler should slot in at No. 3, behind Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill. Gill is set to return to the playing XI as captain after missing the previous fixture owing to neck issues.