Jos Buttler comments on his future as England captain after Champions Trophy exit

LAHORE: England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler on Wednesday, hinted at relinquishing the role after his team’s group-stage exit from the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025, underway until March 9.

England became the first team from Group B to crash out from the eight-team tournament, courtesy of their back-to-back defeats against arch-rivals Australia and Afghanistan.

Buttler, who led England to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup glory in 2022, has now lost three major tournaments as the captain.

The wicketkeeper batter, while speaking at the post-match presentation, touched on his future as the England captain, stating ‘we should consider all possibilities.’

“I don't want to say any emotional statements right now. But I think for myself and the other guys at the top, we should consider all possibilities,” said Buttler.

The England captain also expressed his disappointment over the outcome of the ‘fantastic game’ but credited Ibrahim Zadran for taking the match away from their reach in the last 10 overs of the first innings.

"It's really disappointing. I thought we had our chances in the game. Another fantastic game of cricket, but disappointing to come out on the wrong side,” said Buttler.

"They got away from us there in the last 10 overs. Credit to Ibrahim, he played a fantastic innings. If we look back and reflect, 113 off the last 10 pushed them up to a score that was a very good score on that pitch,” he added.

Jos Buttler then went on to praise Joe Root’s gutsy century but rued the absence of any other top-six batters to support the veteran in taking the game deep.

“He played an unbelievable innings tonight. The way to handle pressure in a run-chase. He needed one of the other top six batters to stay in with him and take the game deeper," Buttler remarked.