Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Jos Buttler, who finally struck form after a century knock against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), says having a "chilled character" like skipper Sanju Samson was the reason he got out of the lean patch.
"Yeah, Sanju is good fun to bat with. We all know he is a chilled fun character. He walked in and smacked his first ball for a six, which was quite amazing. It takes a lot of pressure off you at the other end, because he is always looking to score.
"And, like I said, I wasn't finding the middle of the bat all the time and he walked in and played some brilliant shots and that eased my concerns at the other end," the 30-year-old England cricketer said after his 64-ball 124 guided RR to 220 for 3 against a struggling SRH in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game on Sunday.
SRH were then restricted to 165 for 8, handing RR a 55-run win.
Buttler conceded that he had been struggling with his form in the IPL, and that a few sessions with RR team director, Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, and lead assistant coach, Trevor Penny, had helped him overcome the lean patch.
"As I said, I haven't been feeling at my fluent best, and it's a bit scratchy at times. I had some good chats with Sanga and TP and they've been helping me with my batting. Sanga's theory about 'you gotta get yourself in until you get to that point where everything seems to flow' really worked for me…scoring a 100 is fantastic," added Buttler.