Joe Root reveals his stance amid rumors of Jos Buttler's sacking post-T20 World Cup 2024

Former England Test captain Joe Root has come out in support of underfire white-ball captain Jos Buttler amidst the defending champions’ struggles in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Root has expressed his stringent backing for Buttler’s captaincy and said that he is the right man for the role, with England facing a challenging path to reach the knockout stages in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.

England's campaign began with a rain-affected washout against Scotland, followed by a heavy defeat against Australia. These setbacks have left the defending champions precariously close to an early exit from the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.

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Joe Root defends Jos Buttler's captaincy as England faces ICC T20 World Cup 2024 exit

The defending champions England will now have to record big wins over Oman and Namibia while also relying on Australia to defeat Scotland by a specific margin to advance on net run rate to the next round of the tournament.

This precarious situation has intensified scrutiny of Buttler's captaincy, especially following England's disappointing defense of their ODI World Cup title last year in India. However, Root has publicly backed his close friend, Buttler, dismissing any doubts about his leadership abilities.

Australia has already secured their place in the Super Eight stage, leaving England in a do-or-die scenario for their remaining group matches in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. But the former Test skipper is confident that Buttler can guide England into the latter stages of the mega ICC event.

Joe Root was quoted as saying by Sky Sports: “Jos is one of my good friends. I think he's a brilliant captain, so I don't think there's any question. I think they'll be absolutely fine; they've got a wonderful squad of players. They know exactly what they need to do.”

The senior batter further noted, “When it's all laid out and they've got their backs to the wall, which they have in this situation now, is when they play their best cricket. It could really bring the best out of them, so I've got no worries whatsoever. If they go out and do what they all know that they're capable of doing, we'll be finding ourselves in the Super 8s and the back-end of the tournament where it really matters to play our best stuff.”

Joe Root honoured with MBE by Princess Royal

Meanwhile, at Windsor Castle, the Princess Royal awarded Joe Root the title of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), honoring his significant contributions to cricket. The 2019 World Cup winner is the second-highest run scorer for England in Test cricket, with 11,736 runs in 140 matches.

Root had given inspirational advice to aspiring cricketers, emphasizing the importance of embracing failure. He said that cricket is a game of failures, ups, and downs, and understanding these things and embracing failures can provide valuable opportunities for learning, growth, and improvement for aspiring cricketers.

Reflecting on the current state of English cricket, Root admitted that there are areas needing improvement, but he was happy with the rapid growth of the women's game, and he hoped that this positive trend would continue.