Ahmedabad: Captain Jos Buttler said England’s dismal World Cup campaign and his own batting failure has been frustrating but insisted that it hasn’t shaken his belief in either himself or the team.
England’s World Cup defence officially ended after they went down by 33 runs to arch-rivals Australia on Saturday. It was their sixth defeat in the seven games they have played in the tournament so far.
“I wouldn’t say the belief shaken, more just the frustration grows and adds. Like I said, these are top-quality players,” Buttler said after the defeat to Australia.
Despite the abundance of talent and experience, the England players have cut a sorry figure. One of the most destructive players in the game, Buttler’s form has deserted him at the World Cup.
“The belief in my game is as high as it’s ever been really, which means why there’s so much frustration. Coming into the tournament I felt in fantastic form, as good a form as I’ve been in. So, to be sat here having had the tournament I’ve had is incredibly frustrating, but it doesn’t shake your belief.
“If I stop believing in myself, I’ve got to make sure I’m the last one that does that. You guys will give up on me a lot earlier than I’ll give up on myself,” he added.
The wicketkeeper-batter was insistent that the burden of captaincy has nothing to do with his batting failure.
“No I wouldn’t say the captaincy. It’s something I’ve enjoyed that responsibility in T20 cricket and ODI cricket before this tournament. I felt like it’s brought out a lot of really good things in my batting. So, it’s been frustrating.”
The inability to score runs has been perplexing for Buttler himself given that he is familiar with the conditions in India.
“I can’t quite put a finger on why I’m not playing to the level I expected myself. I’ve played a lot of cricket in India and played a lot of IPL cricket here so it’s not as if I don’t know the conditions or the grounds yes you know and as I say as a captain you want to lead from the front.
“So, of all the things that have happened on this trip, I’d say my own form has been my biggest frustration, because you want to lead from the front as a captain.”
With the top seven sides at the World Cup and hosts Pakistan set to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy, England, who are at the bottom of the table, are at risk of missing out on the tournament. They need to win their remaining two games against Pakistan and Netherlands for a shot at qualifying.
“Yeah, absolutely by exactly that. You know, the Champions Trophy is a tournament we want to be involved in and if we’re going to be involved in it, we need to win some games of cricket,” Buttler added.
PTI