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England captain Jos Buttler considers whether he’s ‘part of the problem’ after the team’s group-stage exit in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Jos Buttler (Image: AP)
England captain Jos Buttler said he enjoys captaincy but knows that a lot of people think it ‘doesn’t sit well with him.’ Speaking to Sky Sports after losing to Champions Trophy debutants Afghanistan by eight runs at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore, which ended their 2025 campaign, Buttler repeated his post-match statement that he wanted to introspect whether he’s ‘part of the problem’ or the ‘solution’ for the team.
It was England’s second consecutive defeat in the tournament after a five-wicket defeat to Australia. This meant, with one match against South Africa left, they could secure a maximum of two points from the group stage — which won’t be enough for a semi-final berth.
Since winning the 2022 T20 World Cup, this was England’s fourth-consecutive failure to reach an ICC tournament final. They exited from the group stage for the ICC Test Championship and the 2023 World Cup while losing to India in the semi-final of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“I’ve enjoyed it [the captaincy]. I’ve seen lots of people say it doesn’t sit well with me, but I do enjoy it. I enjoy the challenge. Obviously, I don’t enjoy losing games of cricket and the results. And, of course, when they’re not going well, you do look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘am I part of the problem or am I part of the solution?’ I think that’s what I’ve got to work out.”
Buttler, 34, hasn’t had a good tournament with the bat so far either. In a team full of top-order batters, he chose to shift to the middle-order and scored 38 runs in two matches. He hasn’t crossed the 100-run mark in an ODI series since the 2023 World Cup, where he put up 138 runs in nine matches.
Since the defeat to Afghanistan, England experts have called for an end to his time as the captain. But Buttler didn’t commit to any such decision after the match. He then explained the Afghanistan defeat by saying the team was short on confidence.
“I think a confident team would’ve romped home tonight,” he said. “That’s the way sport goes sometimes. When you’ve been short of results in those 50-50 games, you probably find ways to lose as opposed to win when you’re a really confident, flying team.
- Location :
Lahore, Pakistan
