England's veteran wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler has been named as successor of Eoin Morgan as he will be seen spearheading his side in the upcoming three-T20I and three-ODI series. The T20I series will commence on July 7 whereas the ODI series will begin on July 12.
Jos Buttler has plenty on his plate in his new role as England's limited-overs captain, meaning he has no plans to play Test cricket right now – whether opening the batting or otherwise.
Buttler has been appointed England's white-ball skipper following the retirement of long-term leader Eoin Morgan.
The superstar wicketkeeper-batsman was an obvious choice, having been a key performer under Morgan for several years.
Buttler's role in the Test set-up is less established, and the red-ball side are enjoying their own new era under the captain-coach combination of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
Big-hitting Buttler prides himself on being "positive and aggressive", as he told BBC Test Match Special on Friday. Those are qualities that would clearly work in Stokes' side, whose tactics Buttler described as "very similar" to the limited-overs approach of "taking the shackles off".
Debate around a Test return was perhaps inevitable then, but Kumar Sangakkara, Buttler's IPL coach with Rajasthan Royals, suggested he should be a candidate to bat at the top of the order, where England have had some difficulties.
Buttler was amused and bemused by the idea, saying with a smile: "I thought someone had written the wrong story, to be honest. I don't think there is much merit in that.
"Was it from Kumar? Maybe he was just plugging some Rajasthan Royals openers or something like that.
Asked if he had a red ball in his bag, Buttler replied: "Not at the minute, no."
But while the white-ball skipper is happy to maintain a watching brief in Test cricket, he is keen to have the red-ball captain in his teams.
Stokes was named in England's ODI squad for the series against India, although he will not be involved in the Twenty20 international matches that follow a Test that started on Friday.
"I'm really keen for Ben to be involved in T20 cricket," Buttler said. "As with everyone, we're going to have to be careful with how we manage people's workloads.
"Ben's going to be incredibly busy. The first T20 starts after this game [the Test against India] is due to end. It's important we look after players.
"But in any format of the game, Ben is someone you want in your team."
Buttler’s captaincy record
So far, Buttler has led England in nine ODIs and five T20Is. Under Buttler's leadership, England have won six ODIs and three T20Is. Earlier this month, Buttler captained England against Netherlands in the absence of an injured Morgan.
Buttler will take over as England's white-ball captain in the upcoming three-T20I and three-ODI series. The T20I series will commence on July 7 whereas the ODI series will begin on July 12.
England T20I squad: Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Richard Gleeson, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Matthew Parkinson, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, David Willey
England ODI squad: Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Craig Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey
India’s squad for 1st T20I: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
India’s squad for 2nd and 3rd T20I: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik
India’s squad for 3 ODIs: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, J Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh
