‘You’ve still got to play…’: Jos Buttler on his form in T20 World Cup 2026
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘You’ve still got to play…’: Jos Buttler on his form in T20 World Cup 2026")
Jos Buttler Photograph: (AFP)
England will next play co-hosts Sri Lanka in their first Super 8 match at Pallekele on Sunday. They will then face Pakistan on Feb 24 and New Zealand on Feb 27.
With scores of 26, 21, 3 and 3 in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026, Jos Buttler has not started the tournament strongly. The 35-year-old has also gone 15 international matches in all formats without scoring a half-century, yet he remains England’s leading run-scorer in T20 internationals, amassing 4,003 runs in 151 matches at an average of 34.50 and a strike rate of 148.47. He is also fifth on the all-time list of leading run-scorers in T20 cricket. In England’s last two group games against Scotland and Italy, he scored just three runs in each match. Despite this poor run, Buttler says his focus is to keep playing positively and follow the scoreboard.
Speaking on his For the Love of Cricket podcast, he explained that the approach in T20 cricket is different from Test cricket. In Tests, a player might try to bat slowly and carefully when out of form. But in T20, he believes you must keep attacking and play according to the match situation.
“You’ve got to still play the game. There are times I’ve been out of form in Test cricket and the batting coach might say ‘rein it in and bat for an hour. In T20 you have got to keep playing the scoreboard.” Buttler said on his For the Love of Cricket podcast.
Buttler, who plays in T20 leagues around the world, last scored a fifty in the SA20 while representing Durban Super Giants. He made 97 runs off 57 balls against Pretoria Capitals but did not score more than 30 in the rest of the tournament.
He captained England to victory in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. During that event, Buttler and Alex Hales shared a record 170-run opening partnership, the highest stand for any wicket in T20 World Cup history. Buttler said that even when he is not making big scores, he feels confident if he is batting well. He takes pride in turning good starts into important contributions for the team.
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“I felt I was playing really well in the SA20 without getting scores. One thing I always pride myself on in T20 is if you get in, go and make a good contribution,” added Buttler.
England will next play co-hosts Sri Lanka in their first Super 8 match at Pallekele on Sunday. They will then face Pakistan on Feb 24 and New Zealand on Feb 27.
His teammate Jacob Bethell said the team is not worried about Buttler’s form and explained that some of Buttler’s shot choices have not worked recently, but everyone believes he will perform well when it matters most in the tournament.
“He’s (Jos Buttler) fine. The options he has taken haven’t come off but no one in that side is worried about Jos in terms of performance. He will come good when we need him in the big stages of this tournament.” said Bethell while addressing reporters.
