Jos Buttler Highlights England's Team Spirit After T20 World Cup Departure

Jos Buttler believes England should take pride in their T20 World Cup efforts, despite a disappointing end. England faced a 68-run defeat to India on Thursday, June 27, ending their title defence.

England's campaign saw them bowled out for just 103 in Guyana, allowing India to avenge their 10-wicket loss from two years ago. The tournament had its highs and lows for England, who barely made it through the group stage and had to bounce back from a Super 8s loss to South Africa to reach the semi-finals.

"India outplayed us, certainly. We let them maybe get 20 or 25 too many on a challenging surface that they played well on. They fully deserved to win," Buttler said.

Buttler praised his team's resilience throughout the tournament. "With everything that's happened in the tournament, I'm really proud of the group's efforts. We can only play who's in front of us. We've had a lot of adversity but we have stuck together really well, we played good cricket in patches but unfortunately came up short when we needed it most."

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 27, 2024

After a rain delay, England won the toss and chose to field first. Buttler does not believe this decision was a mistake. "With the rain around, we didn't think the conditions would change and they didn't, they just outplayed us and got a very good score," he said.

"I don't think the toss was the difference between us."

Reflecting on Strategy

Buttler acknowledged India's strong spin attack and reflected on his team's strategy. "They've got some fantastic spinners. Our two bowled well but in hindsight, yeah, probably should've bowled Moeen [Ali] in our innings with the way spin was playing," he noted.

"But with a good score and their brilliant bowling attack, it was always going to be a tough chase."

The match highlighted India's quality and left England contemplating what could have been done differently. Despite falling short at crucial moments, Buttler remains proud of his team's overall performance in the tournament.