Jos Buttler Quits As England Captain After Champions Trophy Exit & India Tour Debacles

Karachi: Jos Buttler on Friday resigned as England’s white-ball captain after a string of disappointing results.

England were knocked out of the Champions Trophy after a shocking 8-run defeat at the hands of Afghanistan on February 26. It was England’s second successive defeat, having lost to Australia a week ago despite scoring 351 in 50 overs.

England face South Africa in their final Group B fixture at Karachi on Saturday, in what will be Buttler’s final game as skipper. Even if they win, England won’t progress to the semifinals.

Just before the Champions Trophy, England embarked on a white-ball tour of India where they lost 1-4 in the T20I series before being blanked 0-3 in the ODIs.

“I’m going to stand down as England captain. It’s the right decision for me and the right decision for the team. Hopefully somebody else who can come in alongside Baz (coach Brendon McCullum) who will take the team to where it needs to be,” Buttler announced at Friday’s pre-match press conference in Karachi.

The 34-year-old Buttler took over as England’s T20I and ODI captain after the retirement of World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan, in June 2022.

In 95 matches as captain, Buttler led England to 44 wins and 47 losses.

Under his stewardship, England have flopped in three successive ICC tournament — finishing seventh in the 2023 ODI World Cup with just three wins from nine games, losing in the semis to India in the 2024 T20 World Cup and now Champions Trophy exit.

“This tournament (Champions Trophy) was going to be important results-wise for my captaincy, and obviously two losses and being out of the tournament with a bit of a hangover from some tournaments before, it probably reached the end of the road for me and my captaincy.

“It’s a shame, I am sad about that. With Brendon (McCullum) only coming in recently, I was excited about working closely with him and hoped for a quick turnaround to take the team forward, but it’s not worked out that way. It feels like it’s the right time for me and for the team to have a change,” Buttler stated, adding that he will be available as a player if the selectors wanted him.