England qualified for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2026 by defeating New Zealand on 27 February. England had to work hard before reaching the semi-finals. He will continue his performance in the tournament along with out-of-form Jos Buttler.
England white-ball captain Harry Brook said Buttler may be in ‘bad’ form with the bat, but he is not worried about it. For Brook, the top-order batsman is the best batsman in the world to grace this format.
Jos Buttler has been struggling with his form since the group stage of T20 World Cup 2026.
Jos Buttler is also one of the famous openers of T20 World Cup 2026. He started the campaign by scoring 26 and 21 against Nepal and West Indies, but soon began to lose his temperament. In the last five matches against Scotland, Italy, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand, Buttler has returned with scores of 3, 3, 7, 2 and 0 at an average of only 15 runs. The opener has scored only 62 runs in seven innings so far in the tournament.
England will face West Indies or India in the semi-finals in Mumbai. Will they consider any changes to their starting combination? As a replacement, the Harry Brook-led side has Ben Duckett, a proven opening batsman.
Will England appoint Ben Duckett in place of Jos Buttler?
But Duckett is unlikely to get a chance to replace Jos Buttler as the captain continues to have faith in the experienced batsman. Brook pointed out what Buttler has done for the national team in the past.
“A lot has been said about Jos. I said the other day he’s played 150 T20 games for England, and people probably need to step back from that a bit. He’s probably the best white-ball player I’ve ever seen. He’s a bit of a bother now, but I think it’s an exciting thing for everyone in the world to see what he can do in the next few games”, Brook said after clashing with him at the presentation ceremony. New Zealand at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
The captain further said that he is confident that Buttler will make a comeback soon, as the batsman is hungry to score a large number of runs.
Josh Butler will go out and perform well: Harry Brook
“He’s obviously got a lot of fire in his belly and he wants to go out there and show everyone what he’s made of. Look, he’s got a striking average of 34 and 145 in 150 matches. He’s a phenomenal player and I have no doubt that he’ll go out and do well,” he said.
Last night against New Zealand, England achieved the target of 160 runs in 19.3 overs and won the match by 4 wickets. Will Jacques was named as Player of the Match for his bowling figures of 2/23 (4) and scoring 32 not out off 18 balls with the bat for the winning effort.
Read more: Will Jos Buttler retire after T20 World Cup 2026? The numbers highlight a shocking decline.
