5 experts who have criticized Jos Buttler's captaincy after England's early exit in 2025 Champions Trophy ft. Mohammad Hafeez

England's white-ball captain Jos Buttler is facing severe criticism after his side's group-stage exit from the 2025 Champions Trophy. After their defeat to Afghanistan on Wednesday, February 26, England were knocked out of the tournament.

They lost their opening game against Australia and then went down to Afghanistan by eight runs in a must-win clash. Previously, England failed to make it past the group stages at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India as well.

Under Jos Buttler, England have won only 18 out of 44 ODIs, losing 25 with a poor win percentage of 41.86. Barring the 2022 T20 World Cup win, their performance has seen a downfall in white-ball cricket.

Post England's early exit in the 2025 Champions Trophy, here is what some of the former cricketers had to say about Jos Buttler's captaincy.

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5 experts who have criticized Jos Buttler's captaincy after England's early exit in 2025 Champions Trophy

#5 Mohammad Amir

Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir highlighted England's struggle despite having a strong system and structure. He spoke about the importance of a leader's role in the success of a team.

"England do not have any issue with their system or structure. If you remember in 2023 World Cup I had clarified the roles of a leader and the system. When you have everything the leader as a big role as to how to carry the team forward. What the mindset should be and what combination should be played in different conditions. This depends on the leader," he said while talking on the show 'Haarna Mana Hai'.

Amir compared Jos Buttler to former England captain Eoin Morgan, saying that the wicketkeeper-batter lacks leadership qualities and that a good batter may not always be a good captain.

"Morgan used to fight for his players and the combination that he wanted in the team. This proves it that a good batter or a good bowler may not necessarily be a good captain. A captain is a born leader and has those qualities. I feel Buttler could not deliver and lacks these qualities in leadership," he added.

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#4 Michael Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan made a huge claim, stating that Buttler would not survive as a captain after failures in three consecutive ICC events. He added that Buttler will be the scapegoat after this performance but removing him as captain alone will not resolve England's issues in quick time.

"Given he has been part of three failed ICC tournaments in a row, Jos Buttler won’t survive as captain. The 50-over World Cup was a complete shemozzle for many reasons, then the T20 in the Caribbean was limp, and cost Matthew Mott his job. This time, with another defeat to Afghanistan, Buttler will be the scapegoat. But let’s not kid ourselves that it will suddenly change everything, because England’s problems run much deeper," he wrote in his coloum for The Telegraph.

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#3 Nasser Hussain

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain compared Jos Buttler to Eoin Morgan, stating that the current skipper does not have the presence on the field such as that of the latter in his time.

Nasser said that while Buttler is a popular figure, his job is not to be popular but to improve England's white-ball cricket.

"I thoroughly like Jos Buttler as a human being, he is a very likeable young man, he's popular in the dressing room and everyone who has played the game with him, but it's not his job to be popular, his job is to make England better at white ball cricket. I've never looked at Buttler and thought 'wow what a leader,' he doesn't have that presence in the field that an Eoin Morgan had. That's a bad comparison because you're talking about England's greatest-ever white-ball captain, and he was a hard act to follow," he told Sky Sports.

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#2 Mohammad Hafeez

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez expressed his opinion that Jos Buttler has been exposed as a captain. He said that either Buttler should take a call on his captaincy soon or someone else should make the decision.

"Buttler has been badly exposed as a captain. If you see him as a player, he is batting beyond his number and going back. This is a sign that when you try to hide as a leader then your team will never give you a better response. He should put himself in a situation where he says I will do it for the team. You will see very soon that maybe Buttler will decide on this (captaincy) otherwise someone has to take that bold call," he said on 'Game On Hai'.

Hafeez added that Buttler is not contributing to the team as a captain and that they aren't performing well due to poor leadership.

"At this time he is not able to contribute anything to the team as a leader. England is a good team overall but are not able to perform because they do not have that kind of a leader and captaincy is not to that level," Hafeez reflected.

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#1 Michael Atherton

Former England batter Michael Atherton was blunt in his assessment, stating that Jos Buttler has not added much to the team as a captain and that it has also affected his batting. He said that Buttler's time as captain is done and that the team needs to move on.

"As far as captaincy goes, I don't think Buttler has added that much to this England team, but it's taken away from his batting. And when you add the two together, take away from a great player and you're not gaining with leadership and captaincy, I think it's probably time to move on. I think his time is done, actually, as captain and I think that's probably right," he said on Sky Sports.

Atherton added that England need to acknowledge something that is not working. He also said that Buttler would himself know deep down that it is time for someone else to come in as a leader.