The stand-in captain for the Bangladesh series, Jos Buttler has stressed the scale of the cricketing challenge facing England’s ODI team in the upcoming 3 match ODI series against the Tigers.
With security issues dominating the discussion over England’s participation in the ODI series, it has largely gone unnoticed that the Bangla Tigers are ranked seventh in the world above West Indies and Pakistan.
Bangladesh is a formidable prospect in limited overs cricket and especially in their home territory. The Asian side have recorded series wins against Pakistan, India and South Africa in 2015. That year they began by defeating England in the 2015 World Cup, a result which was crucial in ensuring Bangladesh’s progress to the quarter-final at the expense of England. Buttler scored 65 in England’s unsuccessful run chase and he would be well aware of the challenges Bangladesh can throw at them in the upcoming series.
Also read: Jos Buttler happy to hand over England captaincy to Eoin Morgan after Bangladesh tour
“I’m looking forward to when we arrive there, and the dust has settled, and we can start talking about the cricket again,” said the Lancashire wicketkeeper-batsman after his appointment as a captain.
“Bangladesh are an emerging team, they are starting to produce some fantastic cricketers, and they have a really passionate support that will get behind them in their own country.
“Their results in home conditions show how difficult they are going to be for us to beat them out there. But that’s a great challenge for us.
“I love playing in this England one-day team, it’s been such a great thing to be part of in the last 18 months. That’s why I’m so excited to be captain of the team, and if we can go to Bangladesh and do well, it will show what fantastic strides we’ve made in one-day cricket.”
After an emphatic series wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan this summer, this will be the first of three series which England will play before they return home to compete in the Champions Trophy 2017.
England will face India in a five-match series in January and they will make a trip in the new North vs South series in Dubai and Abu Dhabi proving an opportunity for the bench strength to press for their places in the team for the Champions Trophy.
Buttler, who has been Eoin Morgan’s deputy since the 2015 World Cup, accepted that combining captaincy with wicket keeping will definitely present a tough challenge but he is one guy who is confident in handling his troops especially with the support of his teammates.
“I’ve been to Bangladesh three times before so I know it does get pretty noisy out there,” he added. “But that might mean it is an advantage for a wicketkeeper to be the captain – at least it means everyone will be looking at me.
“We’ve got some good cricket brains in our one-day team – maybe surprisingly, in some cases. It’s a great time to be involved in white-ball cricket with England, and a great honour to be leading this team,” Buttler concluded.
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