T20 World Cup 2022: We will try to spoil India’s party, says England captain Jos Buttler | Cricket News

ADELAIDE: England captain Jos Buttler said that the team would like to play spoilsport for those hoping to see an India-Pakistan final at the T20 World Cup, while speaking at a press conference in Adelaide on Wednesday ahead of their semifinal against India.
The wicketkeeper-batter backed his team to beat India on November 10 to deny cricket fans a repeat of the 2007 T20 World Cup final.
The MS Dhoni-led India beat Pakistan in the final of the inaugural edition in 2007.

“We certainly don’t want to see an India versus Pakistan final, and we will try to spoil their party. They are a good team,” said Buttler.
While talking about his team’s performance in the tournament and its readiness to play in the semifinal, he said, “We have got to the point where we wanted to be. Everyone is excited about playing in the semifinal. Obviously, we are really excited about the match against a great Indian team. We like to be in such a situation.”
Buttler also shared news about the fitness of key English players David Malan and Mark Wood, stating that they have still not recovered and are doubtful of making it to the playing eleven. He also hinted at Phil Salt being a possible replacement for Malan’s position.
“Both Malan and Wood are doubtful. But we would see how they are on match day. We trust our medical team. We need guys to be fit. Full faith in every member of our squad. Going back to the Pakistan tour, we gave chance to a lot of youngsters and they did well. Phil Salt has a fantastic mindset, especially for T20Is. He is someone who looks to perform,” said the England captain.

The explosive opening batsman said that Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a very good bowler, but it is not something that bothers him.
“He (Bhuvneshwar) is a good bowler, but I certainly don’t fear him,” Buttler said.
He also stressed on the importance of spinners in the middle overs while talking about Yuzvendra Chahal and labelled him as a wicket-taking option.
“I think spinners play a huge role in T20 cricket by taking wickets in the middle overs. Taking wickets stems the flow of runs. Yuzi (Chahal) is a great bowler. He is a wicket-taking bowler,” said Buttler.
“We know that the way we play, we have a chance of winning. We want to stick to our plan. I speak to Eoin (Morgan) quite a lot. He is a great player, but I lead the team in my way. But he is a great mate,” Buttler said on being asked about the team’s game plan and if he takes inputs from England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan.

Buttler also spoke about the in-form Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav and said that he has been in great nick, but he can be dismissed and England would be desperate to do that.
“He (Suryakumar) has been great to watch. He is a batter who has a lot of shots, but you need one ball to dismiss the batter and we would be desperate to do that,” said Buttler.
“Historically, 165 is a par score (in Adelaide), but we would not like to have a par score. We would like to have a winning total. The wicket looks consistent for 40 overs throughout,” said Buttler.