• Home
  • Match Hub
  • Explained Why Buttler Made A Blunder By Demoting Joe Root For Jamie Smith Vs Australia

Explained: Why Buttler Made A Blunder By Demoting Joe Root For Jamie Smith Vs Australia?

Anurag Dasgupta

Why demoting Root was a bad idea [Source: AP Photo] Why demoting Root was a bad idea [Source: AP Photo]

Story continues below ADVERTISEMENT

England Vs Australia Champions Trophy clash is turning out to be a spicy affair, as the English side have been put into bat and the Three Lions have lost 2 crucial wickets. The England team made a surprise decision by promoting Jamie Smith at number 3, instead of Joe Root. This bold call raised eyebrows as Smith failed to deliver and perished cheaply.

Jos Buttler had his reasons to make this interesting change, but here is the key reason as to why tweaking with Root's batting position was a blunder by captain Buttler.

Why demoting Joe Root was a bad decision

Root has stellar numbers at number 3

Criterion
Data
Matches102
Runs4374
Average49.70
50s/100s29/11

As the number suggests, Root has mind-boggling numbers at 3 and should have batted at his preferred position.

He has 4374 runs at number 3 and out of the 15 ODI centuries, 11 of them have come at his favourite batting slot. Joe Root is England's best player in the team and you want your best player to play at his favourite spot. In the second ODI Vs India recently, Root batted at number 3 and scored a fifty. After which, Buttler changed his batting position.

One reason could to demote Root could be to protect him from an abysmal power-play record. In 23 ODI innings since 2021, Root has averaged 72 when coming into bat after the power-play and a mere 18.8 when batting inside the power-play.

Smith's lack of experience came back to haunt him

Jamie Smith has played 6 ODIs for England and interestingly, he has never batted at number 3. In those 6 ODIs, 5 have come at number 5 and a solitary at number 6. 

In a big tournament like the Champions Trophy, where Smith has no experience of batting at number 3, Buttler threw him under the bus and urged the batter to play at an unusual position for him. Even in Tests, Smith comes in at number 6, 7, and is more familiar to play in that particular spot.