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'If you're asking if I should remain England captain...': Buttler 'shocked, frustrated, disappointed' by World Cup show
Buttler is shocked, incredibly frustrated and disappointed with his performance and also his team's. So much so that is unsure about his captaincy future.
Four confidence-denting losses in five matches. Defeats to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. From the favourites to lift the title to being on the verge of being the first to get eliminated from the group stages. It's safe to say that very few would want to be the captain of the England men's cricket team currently. As things stand now, Jos Buttler is treading along the lines. He is shocked, incredibly frustrated and disappointed with his performance and also his team's. So much so that is unsure about his captaincy future.
The defending champions, who have ruled white-ball cricket for a good six-seven years now, entered World Cup 2023 as one of the favourites. But halfway through the group stage, they are on the brink. What's worse? They could not even put up a fight in the matches that they lost. They were outplayed by New Zealand, Afghanistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
"Yeah, obviously. Incredibly disappointing, incredibly frustrating. Yeah, like you say, we're not just losing, we're losing by a long way and playing a long way short of our best. So, absolutely, huge disappointment," Buttler said after Sri Lanka hammered them by 8 wickets in Bengaluru.
England's campaign all but over
England are currently 9th in the points table, thanks to a marginally better net run rate than the Netherlands. They still have a mathematical probability of making it to the semi-finals but for that to happen they need nothing sort of a miracle. Buttler didn't seem that hopeful.
"It certainly looks that way," Buttler when asked if it's all over for England in this World Cup. "That's incredibly disappointing. You get on the plane to come to India and we're in a really good position as a team. Everything looks like it's going to plan and it's just not worked at all.
How did it reach this point? "We're a really good team, done a lot of really good things in the recent past in white ball cricket, 50-over cricket. As I said - get on the plane with high hopes and a lot of confidence and belief that we can challenge for the title. So, to be sat here now with the three weeks that I've been is a shock. It's a shock to everyone. I'll walk back in the dressing room after this and look at the players sat there and think how we found ourselves in this position with the talent and the skill that's in the room. But it is the position we're in, it's the reality of what's happened over the last three weeks and that's a huge low point," Buttler said.
When asked if he should remain as England's white-ball skipper, Buttler said that is not in his hands now but given a chance, he would love to turn things around with this side.
"Yeah, I think you're always questioning as captain, you know, how you can get the best out of players, how you can get the team moving in the right direction. I certainly have a lot of confidence and belief in myself as a leader and captain and first and foremost as a player, but if you're asking if I should still be captaining the team that's a question for the guys above me."
