IND vs ENG: Jos Buttler Admits England Were 'Outplayed' In Heavy T20 Defeat To India

Following the retirement of Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler‘s first game as captain was less than stellar as he was dismissed for a first-ball duck by Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s superb bowling. 

The hosts were finally bowled out for 148 in 19.3 overs after being given a target of 199 to win, setting the tone for an England chase that never quite got underway. 

Jos Buttler Lauds India’s New Ball Bowling

“We’ve been outplayed today, I thought India bowled fantastically well with the new ball, they put us under a lot of pressure and we couldn’t really get back in the game from that point,” said Jos Buttler. 

“I thought we came back really well in the second half of their innings, we bowled with a lot of bravery, we kept trying to chase wickets and thought maybe a little bit above par, but the way they bowled at the start there, the ball swung quite consistently for the first six overs and they took early wickets.” 

Deepak Hooda (33 off 17) and Suryakumar Yadav (39 off 19) got India off to a fast start when they decided to bat, and Player of the Match Hardik Pandya followed with 51 off 33 to keep them going. 

Jos Buttler Hails Impressive Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Due to England’s powerful batting, when they were able to keep their opponents under 200 runs, the match started to favour the hosts marginally. 

Instead, Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep Singh destroyed the opposition with their swing bowling, while the exceptional Hardik picked up four wickets to snuff out any momentum that one of Dawid Malan (21), Harry Brook (28), or Moeen Ali may have supplied (36).

“I think Bhuvneshwar Kumar can swing it most places and he bowled with great control and shaping the ball both ways,” said Jos Buttler. 

“It probably swung longer than I can remember in a T20 game, we probably needed to try and hit one into the stands to get it to stop swinging. That didn’t happen and all credit to India, I thought they were fantastic.” 

Also Read: IND vs ENG: India Skipper Rohit Sharma Credits Batters For Showing ‘Intent’ In 1st T20I Against England