Buttler backs team’s aggressive approach despite poor results in T20Is in India

England captain Jos Buttler addresses a press conference ahead of the first ODI against India in Nagpur on Wednesday
| Photo Credit: K.R. DEEPAK

England skipper Jos Buttler backed his team’s aggressive approach despite poor results in India during the T20Is.

“We want to play in exactly the same way. We want to find ways to put pressure on the opposition with the bat,” said Buttler. “We believe that’s the best way for us to win games in cricket and get the best out of the players in our dressing room. We’ll double down on that,” he added. 

“I think we played well in phases in the T20s, but it was never quite long enough to run with it and run away with games. It’s really important that we stay on track and stay on course with the way we want to play and try and execute that to the best of our ability in these games.”

While his side has redefined how ODIs have been played in the last decade, England failed to defend its crown during the 2023 World Cup in India, winning just three of its nine games.

When asked about the failure to replicate the success on Indian pitches, the 34-year-old stressed the importance of execution and spoke about how Rohit Sharma has shown the way for India to follow a similar approach.

“Whether you want to be aggressive, you want to be conservative, you want to be measured, you’ve still got to go out there and execute it and play it well. If I look back at that World Cup, the two teams in the final were playing a positive and aggressive brand of cricket. You may think of how Travis Head took that final with the bat. You see, it can be successful.”

“I think Rohit takes a lot of credit for how he’s come out and played himself as a captain and pushed India more towards that style of cricket. We want to be exactly the same. We believe that’s the way that will give us the best chance of getting positive results,” said Buttler.