"My own form has been the biggest concern" - Jos Buttler blames himself for England's forgettable 2023 World Cup campaign
England skipper Jos Buttler has accepted responsibility for his team's poor performance in the 2023 World Cup, stating that his own form has been a significant concern. The keeper-batter revealed that he felt good about his form coming into the tournament, but has not lived up to the expectations.
The defending champions were officially knocked out of the competition after plummeting to their sixth defeat in seven matches in the 2023 World Cup. England crashed to a 33-run loss against Australia in Ahmedabad, ending all their hopes of making it to the semi-final. Buttler was out cheaply at a critical moment of the match.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, the right-hander admitted that they are hurt by their performance after coming to India with high hopes and lamented the mistakes made in every game.
"My own form has been the biggest concern coming into the tournament. I felt in a great space and I have not played as well as I can in such a pivotal role, my own performance with the bat has hurt us. It's certainly a low point. I've had a few but definitely as a captain, to be stood in this position when you arrive in India with very high hopes is incredibly tough. We certainly haven't done ourselves justice. Coming into the tournament we fancy ourselves to have a real go at it and push whoever it was going to be all the way. It's incredibly tough, you know, to reach those highs."
Buttler, one of England's best white-ball cricketers, has managed a high score of 43 in seven innings and has averaged a dismal 15.14. The right-hander went for a big shot against Adam Zampa but holed out to long-on.
"We've let people down at home" - Jos Buttler
Buttler stated that England have the desire to start winning more than ever but emphasized that they must keep putting in the hard work to get there. The 33-year-old added:
"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. We've let ourselves down. We've let people down at home the people who support us through thick and thin. The only way you can get back into form or start winning games again is to front up and go again, you have to keep putting in the hard work as individuals and believing that it's not far away. The longer it goes on, the closer you are to coming out the other side of it."
The Englishmen have two more league matches to go against the Netherlands and Pakistan.