Jos Buttler, the captain of the England side, hinted that he did not want to make any “emotional statements” regarding his captaincy but that “all possibilities” could be up for discussion after his squad exited the Champions Trophy here with an early loss to Afghanistan on Wednesday.
A largely unimpressive side plummetnr the English cricket team faced an inconceivable defeat to Afghanistan by eight runs to get eliminated from the marquee event sooner than expected.
Chasing 326 runs, England were bowled out for 317 with Ibrahim Zadran’s 177 and Azmatullah Omarzai taking five wickets in the first innings for Afghanistan.
“I don’t want to make any emotional statements right now. But I think myself and the other guys at the top should consider all possibilities,” Buttler said in the post-match presentation about life after his future as the England white-ball skipper.
For the third time in his tenure as captain, the English squad had failed to go deep in an ICC tournament with the previous two being the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India and the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Americas.
The English side lost to Afghanistan by a humiliating 69 runs in the group stage of the 2023 Cricket World Cup played in New Delhi.
“It’s really disappointing. I thought we created good opportunities in the match. Another great game of cricket, just disappointing to come out short,” Buttler said, with his side still in the match until overs 48 when they lost Jamie Overton, who had been playing well towards the end.
The England skipper accepted that Afghanistan had batted really well in the last 10 overs, which complicated matters for his side.
In their last 10 overs, they stole the show. Ibrahim (added Zadran), played an excellent innings. When we look back and reflect, 113 off the last 10 overs pushed them up to a very good score for that type of pitch.”
The skipper praised Root for keeping his cool under pressure and scoring 120.
The captain of Afghanistan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, who had shared a century stand with Zadran at the top, said the win was an indicator of his team’s improvement.
“As a team, we are happy, and I think our nation will also celebrate this victory. The first time we beat them was during the World Cup in 2023. I keep saying that we are improving day by day as a team, and I think we demonstrated that during the last worldwide cups. Today, it was a close match, but we handled it quite well. I’m pleased with the outcome,” said Shahidi.
On Zadran’s beautiful century, he said the opener did deliver under immense pressure.
“A talented guy. When we were three down at the beginning, it was oppressive. But the partnership me and Ibrahim had was truly special. I think it was one of the best innings ever in one-day internationals.
“Our team is the greatest gift to enjoy because there are younger and talented kids coupled with senior boys-ones who have way too much experience. Everyone knows what are their roles in the team. With some luck, we can extend this rhythm to the next match against Australia,” he said.
