England captain Jos Buttler has opened up on his leadership future and said he will need to consider all possibilities after they were stunned by Afghanistan at the Gadaffi Stadium, Lahore. Afghanistan registered a remarkable eight-run win to knock England out of the Champions Trophy on Wednesday.
England were bundled out for 317 runs after Afghanistan posted a par score of 325 runs on the board. Ibrahim Zadran scored a majestic knock of 177 runs, which is now the highest individual score in the Champions Trophy.
On the other hand, Joe Root scored an impressive knock of 120 runs but he didn’t get the support from the other end.
Jos Buttler said on Sky Sports, “It’s tough to say, stood here right now, and I don’t want to make any sort of emotional statements. But I think it’s fair to say that you’ve got to consider all possibilities.
The 34-year-old added he enjoys the captaincy challenge though many experts think otherwise.
“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 elaborated.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Buttler admitted they failed to take their chances against Afghanistan and it led to their downfall.
“Disappointing to be knocked out of the tournament early. We had our chances in the game and we didn’t take them. Root played an unbelievable innings and we needed one of the top six batters to stay with him. The last 10 overs got away from us a bit. 113 off the last 10 pushed them up to a very good score on that pitch.”
After a shocking loss against Afghanistan, former England captain Michael Vaughan also said that Buttler wouldn’t survive captaincy. England will play their final game of the tournament against South Africa at the National Stadium, Karachi on Saturday.
