I Am Sure The Senior Players Will Step Up In Ben Stokes' Absence: Jos Buttler

All-rounder Ben Stokes announced his retirement from the ODI last format last week but England captain Jos Buttler is optimistic that the more experienced members of the team will step up to fill the void.

Because he has yet to win a series, Buttler’s tenure as England’s white-ball captain has not been smooth. Due to rain on Sunday, the third and final ODI against South Africa could not be played.

After Eoin Morgan retired from international cricket in June, he took over as captain in white-ball cricket. Days later, Stokes made the devastating announcement that his final ODI will be against South Africa in the series opener.

The Senior Players In The Team Are All Leaders: Jos Buttler

“We have to be realistic with where we are as a team in the ODI format. It is about building towards that World Cup in India [in 2023]. What will we need in the conditions out in India?

“We have had a bit of change in the recent past, but we have also got a lot of very experienced players as well, who are natural leaders in the team anyway,” Buttler was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

“It is about drawing a line in the sand, looking forward to that next World Cup and building a team to try and win it. When you lose a genuine all-rounder in Ben you are probably always going to feel short in either batting or bowling.

“Now, we have time to work out which way we want to go and give guys an opportunity to stake a claim for that place,” he added.

Before the World T20 competition in Australia in October of this year, Buttler has a tonne of games still to play. England will play 13 internationals before to the start of the tournament, the first of which is a three-match T20I series with South Africa.

Buttler will hope to win the series to register his first series win as captain at home.

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