Joe Root gives Jos Buttler back-line as England’s World Cup hopes hang by a thread

Following England’s disastrous World Cup debut, Joe Root has defended skipper Jos Buttler and issued a warning to his colleagues to “stand up and perform”.

The England team has acknowledged that in the first of what they hope will be seven World Cup finals, it is time for them to step up and support their captain.

They have been left with the extremely improbable goal of winning every game starting on Thursday against Sri Lanka. The situation is dire for the reigning champions, as former Test captain Joe Root is all too familiar with Jos Buttler taking the brunt of the criticism in his role as captain.

However, it is acknowledged that, despite Buttler’s incorrect choice to bowl first against South Africa, the players have fallen short in each of the tournament’s first four games.

“Jos knows what he’s doing and sometimes as captain you need your players to stand up and perform,” Root stated. As a leader, there is only so much you can do. You can make all the correct choices, but there is only so much you can do if the players aren’t giving their best efforts.

Since I’ve been again active in the white-ball activity, I think he’s led really effectively. Though as players we have to take responsibility and do our share, I don’t think there’s any concern that we’re not getting the most out of skipper Jos Buttler.”

Four years ago, Root led England in run scoring during the World Cup. He went above Graham Gooch on the all-time list with fifty-score runs against Bangladesh and New Zealand. However, the 32-year-old is uninterested in reaching personal goals, particularly at a time when the club is struggling so much.

Additionally, he has demanded a return to basics from a team that, in his opinion, still possesses a lot of talent but has disoriented itself at the worst possible time. He said, “Sometimes it’s about not overcomplicating things,” to Sky Sports.

“Let’s keep it simple and just state that we need to beat them for 100 overs in order to win the game and accomplish what many of us have been doing for a very long time. It’s not a miraculous cure or pill to take before bed, but it works flawlessly.

“All you need to do is keep working hard and concentrate on the next game. We’ll treat that as the World Cup final for the time being, and we’ll repeat the process for the next and subsequent games.

“All we need to do is give Sri Lanka our whole attention. Right now, we have some very basic messaging in front of us. We must go forth and triumph. That frees us up to do what we do in certain ways and unshackles us.”