England captain Jos Buttler surprisingly ditched India superstar batsman Virat Kohli when he was asked to pick five names for his ODI Dream XI team.
Recently, ahead of the WC start, Buttler spoke in an interview with the ICC where he was asked to pick the first five players he’d put on his ODI teamsheet from cricketers across the world.
While many would have expected Buttler to pick Virat Kohli, who has 47 ODI centuries to his name and is hailed as the greatest ODI batsman by many fans and experts, the England captain instead went with the India captain Rohit Sharma. To partner Rohit at the top, Buttler picked South Africa’s aggressive opener Quinton de Kock.
Coming to the middle-order, Buttler didn’t name himself or even his teammate Ben Stokes. But he wishes to have Australia’s spin-bowling all-rounder Glenn Maxwell by his side.
In the bowling department, he picked two bowlers: South Africa paceman Anrich Nortje, who will unfortunately miss out from the World Cup 2023 due to an injury, and England’s leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who has played a crucial role in England winning the 2019 World Cup and the 2022 T20 World Cup.
India are quite clear favourites: Jos Buttler
The wicket-keeper batsman will be leading England in their title defense that kick-starts on October 5 with a repeat of the 2019 World Cup final – England taking on New Zealand. Jos Buttler had last year captained England to their second T20 World Cup trophy, cementing England’s legacy as one of the best-ever white-ball teams.
Jos Buttler agreed with the general opinion that Team India are the firm favorite to win the World Cup at home, and Rohit’s side has recently claimed the number 1 men’s ODI team ranking.
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Buttler said that England are not thinking as if they are defending their crown.
“Going to a World Cup in India, I think India are quite clear favourites if you had to pick. We go as a good side looking to win the World Cup, we don’t have any thoughts of being defending champions. It’s a new tournament and we will try to take it game by game and go all the way. We know we’re a good team with a chance,” the England captain said.
