England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler says the pressure of his form slump this year became so demanding that he was relieved when selectors finally dropped him from the Test side on the recent tour of the UAE.
After showing impressive touch in England's Test series against New Zealand in May, Buttler's form deserted him during the Ashes and the opening two Tests of their series against Pakistan in October.
Speaking to former England captain Michael Vaughan in The Telegraph, Buttler said the stress of his run of outs became too much to handle, particularly when on tour.
"You get to a place where you are thinking 'today I have to get runs or can you just drop me and get me out of this,'" he said.
"It was a relief to get dropped which is sad in a way because you never want to miss a game.
"But I was not performing and mentally I got to a stage where I was not concentrating and did not want to be there.
"I was not enjoying walking out there and feeling like I didn’t know where the next run was coming from.
"You are never going to go to a coach and say 'look I think you need to drop me’ because you have that pride thinking you can turn it around but it was definitely a relief to be taken out of that game and then suddenly the world changed.
"When I was watching the Sharjah Test I wondered why I had been so worked up."
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