"Devastated for Jos Buttler" - Ben Stokes shares raw emotions, highlights 'unwarranted criticism' after England's T20 WC exit

England Test captain Ben Stokes opened up about the team's loss in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024 against India. He said that he was devasted for skipper Jos Buttler and the rest of the teammates but he looked at the positive side of it as well, saying that the team reached the semi-final. 

England Cricket Team faced a disappointing loss against India in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024. The defeat meant that the defending champions were eliminated from the tournament.

England weren't up to the mark with the bat and ball as they displayed poor performance. First, with the ball, they failed to put pressure on the Indian team after they took early wickets with the ball. India skipper Rohit Sharma with his 57 took the game away from the opposition along with Suryakumar Yadav (47). 

India posted 171 runs on the board and it was expected that England would come up with a better performance with the bat and put up a fight. However, it wasn't the case as they were extremely poor with the bat. Skipper Jos Buttler (23) started off aggressively but after his wicket, nothing went England's way. 

England kept losing wickets in quick succession of time as Indian spinners were all over them. The duo of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav picked three wickets each as India bundled out England for just 103 runs to win the game by 68 runs and advance to the final of the T20 World Cup 2024. 

Ben Stokes talked about the loss and claimed that it wasn't an easy road for the England team to reach the semi-final. He pointed out how weather and other factors including criticism were around the corner for the team. Speaking to Sky Sports, he explained: 

"Devastated for Jos, Motty and everyone involved out there, all the players and staff because you know, it wasn't an easy road for them to get to the semi-final. There was obviously, you know, like a little bit to do with the weather could have affected us and you know, a little bit of unwarranted criticism, which you always seem to get being an English team for some reason."

Got through to another major, you know, tournament semi-final, which is no mean feat - Ben Stokes 

Ben Stokes further lauded England for reaching the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024. He said that reaching the knockout was the big thing but also credited India for playing a dominating game. He added: 

"Got up with football at the moment,  but they're through to the knockouts as well, aren't they? Yeah, god. But look, it got through to another major, you know, tournament semi-final, which is no mean feat, you know, some seriously good teams out there, but you've got to give credit to India the way that they played in a big game." 

The final of the T20 World Cup 2024 will be played between India and South Africa. The clash between the two teams will be played on Saturday (29th June) at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.