England captain Jos Buttler promised a thorough review will take place after his side’s up-and-down T20 World Cup that ended with a semi-final thrashing at the hands of India.
When England won the tournament in 2022 they blitzed the same opponents at the same stage by 10 wickets in Adelaide, but this time the boot was on the other foot.
Chasing 172 on a difficult batting pitch Buttler’s side were bundled out for 103, crashing to a 68-run loss to ensure they leave the Caribbean on the back of a bitter defeat.
Their efforts in the tournament have at least been an improvement on their previous title defence, a miserable 50-over World Cup campaign last year that saw them rack up six defeats from nine games, but there are still questions to answer.
While England proved far too much for associate nations Oman, Namibia and the United States, they stacked up poorly against their more prestigious rivals, losing to Australia, South Africa and India over the course of the tournament.
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Highlights of the T20 World Cup final semi-final between India and England in Guyana.
“We will review everything and come up with a plan, absolutely,” Buttler told reporters after his side’s World Cup exit.
“You have to review what we need to do better as a team, if that is the way we play, personnel, style of cricket.
“After a loss like that you are ready for a bit of space to take it in and process it so you can review not just this game but the last few months.
“I think there is lots of talent in the English game. It is up to us as an England team and country to harness that talent, develop and make sure we can continue to have a good team moving forward. There’s some time between today and the next matches so we’ll see what happens.”
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England lose their eighth wicket to sum up their calamitous innings as miscommunication between Liam Livingstone and Jofra Archer results in a messy run out.
In the short term, Buttler will head back home to spend time with his family, particularly his newborn third child who arrived shortly before the tournament.
“To be honest, I’m just looking forward to some time away from the game,” he added.
“You can sit here and be emotional after a loss but I don’t need to dive too deep into it right now.
“I think reaching a semi-final is an achievement but we wanted to go all the way. That’s what we came here for. We played well enough to get to this stage but unfortunately we’ve fallen short.”
Watch the T20 World Cup final in Barbados from 3pm on Saturday (3.30pm first ball), live on Sky Sports Cricket.