Jos Buttler reveals his mistake that led to England’s defeat against India

England were comprehensively outclassed by India in the second semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Rohit Sharma and his teammates secured a resounding 68-run win to advance to the final. England captain Jos Buttler admitted to making tactical mistakes in the match.

In the first innings, England took seven wickets, with Chris Jordan the best performer, claiming three scalps. Aware that the pitch conditions favoured spin, England captain Buttler opted to use Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid as his main spinners, leaving Moeen Ali on the sidelines.

India’s spin-based attack proved effective with Rohit Sharma turning to Axar Patel early in the powerplay. The all-rounder struck twice in the first six overs, while Ravindra Jadeja remained wicketless. In the end, both Axar and Kuldeep Yadav finished with three dismissals each.

“The opposition had some exceptional bowlers. Both our bowlers bowled well, but in hindsight I should have brought Moeen on earlier, given how effective the spin was. The rainy conditions probably led me to believe that the terrain wouldn’t change much, but that assessment turned out to be inaccurate. I think they outplayed us and scored above average. So I don’t think the toss was the deciding factor in the result,” Jos Buttler said.

England captain Jos Buttler defended the decision to bowl first on a bowler-friendly pitch, noting the defending champions had conceded 20-25 runs more than the normal total his team could have chased.

“I think they played well. However, luck did not favor us on the power play shots, with some close decisions. In hindsight, I would have called Moeen Ali. Overall, it was a mixed performance – some good things, some disappointments,” he continued.

“I think India fully deserved the victory. They scored above par, which made the race difficult for us. I was hoping to limit them to 145-150 runs on this ground, but they exceeded that number,” he added.

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