After a tough loss to India in the T20 World Cup semi-final, England captain Jos Buttler expressed his desire for a break from cricket. India dominated the match, defeating the defending champions by 68 runs in Guyana. Buttler acknowledged that a target of 145-150 would have been challenging but achievable, but India simply overpowered England.
"Yeah, disappointing. I think we were outplayed by India. They fully deserved the victory. So, yeah, I thought they had an above-par score. I was hoping to restrict them to 145 - 150, probably on that pitch. It was always going to be a tough chase from there," Buttler said in the post-match presser.
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India, batting first on a challenging pitch, put up a competitive 171 runs on the board thanks to fifties from Rohit Sharma (57) and Suryakumar Yadav (47), along with a cameo from Hardik Pandya (23). Their bowlers then dominated, led by Kuldeep Yadav (3/19) and Axar Patel (3/23), bowling out England for just 103 in 16.4 overs. This emphatic win avenged India's loss to England in the previous edition's semi-final. Meanwhile, England will turn their focus to their upcoming white-ball series against Australia in September.
"To be honest, I'm just looking forward to some time away from the game. I think, as I sit here, emotional after a loss, I don't need to dive too deep into it right now. I just look forward to some space from the game," Buttler said.
England's Jos Buttler, dismissed for 23 by Axar Patel, hinted that the team management is likely to stick with the core of the T20I squad. He suggested their performance throughout the World Cup has earned them the trust of the management.
"No, I think I look back to Leeds when we all met up. I think everyone has made progress and we've played well and not well enough, but I think the stuff that we've been doing behind the scenes, the way we've prepared, the way we've trained, the way we've played in patches has been really good. And there's a lot of talent in the team. And yes, we came up against a top team today in these conditions," he further said.
Despite criticism for choosing to bowl first on a pitch suited for batting, Buttler defended his decision.
"Not at the toss. I don't think that was the difference between the two sides. We thought long and hard about selection, about whether we kept the same balance that we'd been playing with that had been working well, or did we need four seamers on that particular wicket. I think that was a really tough call that we made and we ended up sticking with what we had. I think India played a really good game of cricket, whatever team or whatever happened at the toss - they were going to be a tough team to beat and we had to be at our best if we were going to win the game and we were short of our best today," Buttler concluded.
India, who are looking to end their ICC trophy drought since 2013, will now take on South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 final on June 29.
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