Lahore, Pakistan, February 25 (ANI): England captain Jos Buttler stated that the team is not concerned about batter Harry Brook's recent decline in performance, stating that they have complete "trust and confidence" in one of the "most prominent and talented" young players in international cricket.
England will face a crucial match against Afghanistan in the ICC Champions Trophy in Lahore on Tuesday. The performance of their key batsman, Brook, will be crucial. In four ODIs this season, he has scored a total of 53 runs at an average of 13.25, with his highest score being 31. His other scores in these matches have been 0, 19, and 3. In the first match against arch-rivals Australia, he was only able to score three runs.
"No, I have no concerns about Harry. He's one of the top young players globally in his sport. As a high-achiever, he naturally strives to excel and make significant contributions to the team, which is expected of a player of his caliber. The longer he doesn't meet those expectations, the closer he is to bouncing back and performing exceptionally well. We have full faith in him because he's a vital part of the team – he's arguably one of the best young players in the world," Buttler stated during the pre-match press conference.
He acknowledged that the match holds significant importance for him personally, especially after England's underwhelming performances in their 50-over and T20 World Cup title defences.
We haven't focused enough on this in recent times, but we're going to shift our mindset quickly. As soon as you start thinking about any negative thoughts or aspects, we'll completely flip that around and focus on all the positive possibilities and where we can progress as a team.
England squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Rehan Ahmed, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood
Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran. Reserves: Darwish Rasooli, Bilal Sami. (ANI)