• 27-year-old accepts that his Test return will divide opinion • Buttler will stop ‘trying to be something I’m not’ in first Test

Jos Buttler has admitted he is a luxury in England’s re-fitted Test team and that his return will divide opinion. But as the side’s most potent white-ball weapon prepares for a third stab at the longest format, he says the plan this time is to play on instinct.

How Buttler fares in the series with Pakistan that starts at Lord’s on Thursday will make one of the most intriguing subplots during the early Test summer as Joe Root’s side look to return to winning ways after their winter of discontent.

Can such a talent, fresh from wreaking havoc as an opener in the Indian Premier League but someone who has not faced a red Dukes ball since the end of last season with Lancashire, really come off as a specialist game changer at No 7?

Though not entirely new territory, given the last three of his 18 caps came in the same role during the 2016 tour of India, the 27-year-old is planning a fresh mindset as he looks to repay a significant show of faith from the new national selector, Ed Smith, and Root.

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“It is a luxury role for a side to have,” said Buttler, before his first training session back. “For me it is about trusting instincts and not fighting them. In the past I have potentially felt as if I had to play in a certain way or be something I am not. So as much as I can I will be trusting my instincts. That is going to be the best way to be successful.”

His regret refers chiefly to the 2015 Ashes when, having registered half-centuries in five of his first eight Tests, Buttler went into his shell and appeared to lose the location of his off stump. Two matches into the following winter in United Arab Emirates and he was forced to hand over the wicketkeeping gloves to Jonny Bairstow.

Buttler said: “I have learned a lot about myself over the past two years. If you are going to fail, fail in a genuine way and not someone else’s way. It’s going to be a challenge but from the conversations I’ve had with Joe and Ed Smith, it’s very much they want me to play the way that suits me and in the fashion they believe will get the best out of me.”

His recall is one in which his perceived ability has trumped his form in this format. Indeed, Buttler was himself surprised when, while waiting for a match between his Rajasthan Royals side and Kolkata Knightriders, and with a record-equalling run of five successive IPL half-centuries behind him, he got the call.

So with just four first-class centuries to his name – the last of which came four years ago when newly transferred from Taunton to Old Trafford – and an exclusive diet of white-ball cricket this year, Buttler accepts that some of the county batsmen who had hoped to force their way into the Test team may feel aggrieved.

Buttler said: “I’m very aware that I’m the beneficiary of opinions. I don’t know whether there’s a right or wrong. Everyone has an opinion. That’s why sport is so interesting. I’ve been afforded an amazing opportunity to come and play and one that I’m excited about. I am accepting of the noise around it. That’s outside my control.

“It shows that people are very open-minded and there’s not only one way in to national selection. If anything that should benefit guys as you can do things your way. Whatever opportunities are afforded to you, you shouldn’t be worried about taking them for risk of saying: ‘If I go and play in a tournament somewhere that’s my red-ball ambitions finished.’”

As Root’s side ready themselves for Pakistan, one such tournament is a hot topic of discussion, with the Test players present at Lord’s being briefed in small groups on the England and Wales Cricket Board’s latest thinking regarding The Hundred.

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Reaction around the county squads has been lukewarm but the hope is that by getting the international cricketers on board – via presentations from the tournament director, Sanjay Patel, and its architect, Mike Fordham – some positivity may trickle down.

Asked for his take on the new 100-ball concept, Buttler replied: “People don’t necessarily accept change readily. I’m sure in 2003, when Twenty20 was introduced, it was seen as such a radical move. Gradually, it’s been accepted and has done really well.

“There are some fantastic ideas behind The Hundred and what it’s trying to achieve. If it can fulfil those ambitions then it’s going to be great for cricket. If it’s got the best players around the world and the best players in England, I’m sure it’s going to be successful.”