Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes’ role in England’s victory at the T20 World Cup

0 0 0 249 0

Batting star Jos Buttler, who has undeniably led England to its T20 World Cup win, has conclusively proven that he can carry on the legacy of Eoin Morgan, who captained England to its victory at the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. According to teammate Ben Stokes, while the team had the option of following the cricket of the Morgan era, Buttler has turned things around to formulate a new strategy. Some similarities remain, such as the presence of aggressive batters, and a wide selection of bowlers, but Buttler prefers a more flexible schedule of which bowler will be called upon to bowl, compared to Morgan. In England’s match against New Zealand, Moeen Ali was unexpectedly asked to bowl the first over, though he had not bowled in the rest of the matches leading up to that game and did not have a bowling strategy in mind. However, he successfully managed a low economy, conceding just 4 runs. According to Buttler, the decision to have Ali bowl the first over came to him after he batted, and that as a captain he often must rely on his instincts at the moment, even if they run contrary to a pre-decided strategy.

Furthermore, in England’s match against India, inspecting the pitch convinced Buttler that the team should bowl first, even though they had planned to bat. This decision ultimately proved to be in the team’s favour as they defeated India by 10 wickets. Buttler has taken many other decisions which testify to his foresight, such as playing Alex Hales, after Johnny Bairstow sustained an injury, and Jason Roy was ruled out. This was surprising as Hales had previously been overlooked by Morgan due to his conduct, and shares an unpleasant past with Stokes, which Buttler had to smooth through before roping him back into the team successfully. Stoke’s performance is also closely tied to Buttler’s leadership, as he had not played in a T20 game for 18 months prior to the World Cup. A talk with the captain, where Stokes was apprised of the role he was expected to play in the team, played a crucial role in helping him perform to his potential, with some key performances such as England’s victory against Sri Lanka, that booked them a spot in the semis. Other players in the team including Tymal Mills and Mark Wood have also stated how Buttler’s efforts have resulted in a dressing room with a strong team spirit, where players who are out on injury have a voice, and there is no personal rivalry between anyone. Overall, fans can be sure that Buttler’s English team has many more victories waiting to be won.