England captain Jos Buttler on Wednesday said his unit’s 0-3 reverse at the hands of India does not derail its preparation for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy.
“Obviously, you want the results now to build confidence and win. It feels a lot better to sit here [and answer] having won matches as opposed to losing, but we were up against a good side in their own conditions. They’re probably the benchmark really in ODI cricket at the moment.
“We’ve not been near our potential, individually or collectively, or where we can be and that gives us something to look forward to and believe that we can get there and be a dangerous team in the championship,” Buttler said after the 142-run defeat in Ahmedabad.
Setting out to chase 357, the side stormed to 84/2 in 10 overs before a flurry of wickets in the middle order sent the innings into a tailspin. Reflecting on where his team lost the plot, Buttler said: “Probably a bit of a similar theme, from this series and the whole tour. We had a couple of moments in the game, but never enough to go on and force a result or win against a really good team.”
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England won the toss and batted in the opening two games, but opted to bowl in Ahmedabad. A part of it was in anticipation of dew under the lights, which would ease chasing. But Buttler added the decision also came from the viewpoint of testing the side under all scenarios.
“We wanted to bowl first having not not done that in the previous couple of games. But also, potentially this is a good place to chase. The dew comes in a little bit here but they put a really good score on the board. It’s always gonna be tough,” Buttler said.
Buttler also reposed faith in his batting lineup that failed to match its counterpart throughout the series.
“No concerns. We simply just have to be better. No, we have to be very confident in all the guys’ games against spin. Our guys have all the shots. Joe Root is probably one of the best players of spin in the world.
“Quite simply, you can’t always put your finger on why; but we just have to be more effective. And like I said, take lessons from the opposition. Shubman Gill goes on and gets a hundred today. Robert Sharma did it in the last game. Shubman early in the first game scored 90 or nearly 100. They’re the kind of contributions you need in ODI cricket to go on and win games,” Buttler said.
