'We Are Not Defending Anything': Buttler Dismisses 'Defending Champions Tag'
England won the 2019 World Cup [Twitter]
Jos Buttler believes England hold no greater weightage above their opposition teams just because they carry defending champions' tag heading into the 2023 World Cup in India.
Reigning supreme at Lord's four years back under Eoin Morgan's captaincy, current skipper Buttler reckons the tag is "irrelevant" to the cause before the looming campaign in Indian conditions.
England are considered one of the prime favourites to defend their crown and lift the ultimate trophy for the second consecutive time, which could put them in a rare list of teams to have successfully defended the men's World Cup. Only West Indies in 1975 and 1979 and Australia in 1999, 2003 and 2007 have managed to win the tournament on successive occasions.
However, Buttler refused to budge along those lines and emphasized the immaterial nature of their Lord's victory to the tournament at hand. The captain said England aren't out there to "defend anything" and start off the campaign against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Thursday (October 5) as equal competitors.
Buttler wanted to underline the point on "past" and how inconsequential it is to England's fortunes over the next two months. The skipper urged his troops to let go of any reference in their heads of the 2019 triumph and not to "hold onto it forever", for then only they will be absolutely switched on in the moment.
Can't hold onto 2019 World Cup win forever: Buttler
"You can't recreate something, or hold onto it forever. It's all about something new. It's fantastic to be champions and the reigning champions, and I won't say we've left that behind completely because it's a nice place to be," Buttler said.
"But I do feel like you've given that trophy back now. It's done. It's about trying to create something new. We must be hungry to try to do it again and try to be focused on something different."
"We're not 'defending' anything. And it's probably the word I don't like: I want us to attack, so I don't like the word 'defending'... it may be a motivation for certain teams when they've been in that position, but for us, it's irrelevant - certainly for me."
If England do win the World Cup, they will become the third nation after West Indies and Australia to defend their World title successfully.
 "Kashish Chadha")
