Image Credit- Getty
As captain, Jos Buttler has taken the brunt of
England’s World Cup humiliation, blaming his personal batting form for the
team’s disastrous performance.
Australia’s 33-run victory in Ahmedabad sealed the
fate of the reigning champions, who now have no chance of making it to the
semi-finals following their sixth loss in seven tournament games.
As Australia drew closer to a knockout spot with one
more victory, Buttler holed out cheaply to Cameron Green off the bowling of
Adam Zampa, who claimed 3 for 21 and was named Player of the Match. Buttler’s
ejection exacerbated an already difficult tournament where he has amassed 43,
20, 9, 15, 8, 10, and now 1 runs at 15.14 from 113 balls.
“I think it was the right shot to play, the
execution obviously there was off,” Buttler said at the post-match
presentation. “I want to be positive and take the game on. I felt that was
a time to try and throw something back at the opposition.
“But yeah, I think my own form has been the
biggest concern. Coming into the tournament I felt in a great space so to have
not played as well as I can and in such a pivotal role that I play for the
team, my poor performance with the bat has really hurt us.”
But Buttler said that hadn’t shaken his
“belief”, adding at his post-match press conference: “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.”
England’s collapse has been spectacular, and because
of that unforgettable final, the exhilarating home victory in 2019 is still
somewhat fresh in the memory. But it’s also a thing of the past now, as
England’s lack of confidence in themselves during their time in India has
little in common with the confidence that has characterised England’s
white-ball cricket team for the better part of a decade.
“It’s certainly a low point,” Buttler said.
“I’ve had a few but yeah, definitely as a captain, to be stood in this
position when you arrive in India with very high hopes is incredibly tough,
incredibly disappointing and yeah, it hurts a lot.
“We certainly haven’t done ourselves justice.
Coming into the tournament, we fancied ourselves to have a real go at it and
push whoever it was going to be all the way.
“It’s incredibly tough to reach those highs,
absolutely. Everyone knows how much hard work goes into that. And even when you
come up short, there’s so much hard work that goes into that. So we feel like
we’ve let ourselves down. We’ve let people down at home, the people who support
us through thick and thin, and you wear that on your own shoulders.”