'Don't want to say anything emotional right now' - Jos Butler reflects on England captaincy after Champions Trophy exit

England skipper Jos Buttler spoke on his journey ahead as a captain after his team got knocked out of the Champions Trophy 2025 on Wednesday, February 26. England suffered a disappointing eight-run loss in the Match No. 8 of the tournament against Afghanistan in Lahore at the Gaddafi Stadium, marking yet another failure with their other setbacks.

England, losing to Australia earlier with a five-wicket margin, entered the must-win encounter against the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side, however, the strategy didn't work in their favour. This latest defeat comes after their negligent performance in the recent games.

Buttler’s side failed to qualify for the ODI World Cup semi-finals and following that lost their T20 World Cup title defence. More recently, the side suffered a 0-3 series defeat to India, which led them a very little momentum before heading into the Champions Trophy.

While Butler didn't come up with any stern statements regarding his continuation in captaincy and more, he said that a few possibilities that are available will be looked upon.

“I don't want to say anything emotional right now. But I think for myself and the other guys at the top, we should consider all possibilities,” Buttler said in the post-match presentation.

Afghanistan gave a difficult chase of 326 for England, and despite the game going down to the wire, they eventually got bundled out eight runs short of the target in the last over. Joe Root led the unit and gave hope with hitting 11 fours and a six, scoring an impeccable 120 off 111 balls. However, England needed better assistance with their batting to progress in the game, which was evidently lacking, eventually costing them the do-or-die encounter.

"He played an unbelievable innings tonight, the way he handled pressure in a run chase. He needed one of the other top six batters to stay in with him and take the game deeper."

The Three Lions will face off in their final game against Temba Bavuma’s South Africa at the National Stadium in Karachi, on Saturday, March 01. Although it is a dead rubber for the Englishmen, a win would work wonders for the Proteas, confirming them a semi-finals' berth.