Conspiracy against the World Cup Winning Captain Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler stepped down from the white-ball captaincy after a stint of 2 years. Under Buttler’s leadership, England had a fantastic start and added another accolade to their cabinet. The team won the T20 World Cup after almost a decade. This win was seen as the beginning of a new era under a fearless captain. Unfortunately, things have gone south since then. At present, England seems clueless about their plans and approach in the limited-over cricket. The results are evident, as they have lost quite a few series since the highs of the T20 World Cup.
The recent exit from the Champions Trophy 2025 added fuel to the fire. The media and the former cricketers openly criticized England’s approach to the game and their arrogance of believing themselves to be superior in any format. Jos Buttler’s captaincy came under the scanner, and he made the tough decision of relaxing his shoulder off an extra responsibility.
Let’s look at the reasons behind Jos Buttler’s resignation from the captaincy:
Recent Loss in the Champions Trophy
England was counted as one of the favourites coming into the tournament. The destructive batting lineup, the fiery pace attack, and the experience of Adil Rashid could wreak havoc on any team any day. Sadly, the team failed to win against Australia and Afghanistan, knocking themselves out of the tournament. The team was placed under the scanner for its mediocre performances in both batting and bowling. They failed to defend 351 while batting first and failed to chase 326 in the second innings. The only positive from their journey in the CT has been the batting form of Duckett and Root.
Jos Buttler’s Record as a Captain in One-Day International Cricket
Buttler took over England’s white ball leadership in 2022. Since then, he has performed below average as captain. In 45 ODI matches, his record stands at 18 wins and 26 losses, also, he lost 8 ODI series. Whereas, in T20Is, the record stands at 26 wins and 22 losses in 50 matches. During this period, he has 6 T20I series losses to his name. The only glorifying accolade in Jos Buttler’s resume as a captain has been the T20 World Cup 2022 win. Except that, England failed to qualify for the knockouts in the World Cup and the Champions Trophy.
Weird Team Selection
English team selection has been put into question after their failure at the Champions Trophy 2025. The English team boasts a lot about their fiery batting department, where the entire batting set-up failed except for Joe Root and Ben Duckett. English batters somehow managed to register a 350+ total against Australia in Lahore but failed to defend it after reducing the opposition to 27-2 in 4.1 overs. Lack of variations in the bowling set-up was one of the major factors of their setback. They went with Adil Rashid, the only spinner in the squad, and had 4 fast bowlers despite knowing that the matches are scheduled in the Asian conditions, which usually helps the spinner.
The selectors and the management are to be blamed for this distasteful loss. Due to the poor selection of players, England stands on the edge of going back home with 0 points.
A Change in the Management
Ever since McCullum took over the charge, England has adopted a similar brand of cricket in all the formats. It looked a bit interesting but hasn’t been fruitful at all, they could not even convincibly win a single series against the prominent teams like India, Australia, and South Africa. They have gone on to lose more than they did earlier. That also portrays the arrogance of the management decision that they are there to entertain without worrying about the result, which has put England in a worrisome spot. The fans and the critics have lashed out their anger on this approach in the last few months. This backlash may result in a change of leadership at the helm and may hope for a positive comeback in the coming World Cups.
What Does the Future Hold for Buttler?
In the last interview, Buttler opened up on considering all the possibilities in limited-over cricket. The added burden of captaincy surely took a toll on his batting. A need for more sensible cricket is required over the fearless concept of batting. ODI format is a bit of Test and T20s, so as per the situation, things have to be taken care of rather than pushing the same mindset without success.
It is disheartening to see a tough team like England going down without a fight. They are responsible for it. But as the saying goes, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. England’s team and fans would come out of this phase as a better team and give tight competition to the opposition.
