Twenty20 World Cup winning skipper Jos Buttler firmly believes England have won the trophy as the deserved winners as they played their best cricket throughout the tournament with both bat and ball, and outplayed their opponents.
“It's been a fantastic tournament. For us to now be sat here with the T20 World Cup trophy, just immensely proud of everyone involved in the tournament and leading up to this stage. I think we fully deserved it tonight,” said Buttler during the post-match press conference at Melbourne Cricket Ground Sunday.
“I think since the Ireland game (loss by five runs in Duckworth/Lewis/Stern method), the way we've sort of showed great character. It was must-win games every point from then on and I think we've played our best cricket and we've just got better and better,” the wicketkeeper-batter added.
England won the World Cup title in the 50-over format back in 2019 and are now world champions in 20-overs as well, which completes the cycle of English cricket revolution in white-ball cricket, which started in 2016.
“I think a lot has been made of the changes in white-ball cricket in England and the journey the teams have been on. To have won in 2019 and now win this T20 World Cup, as well, it just shows the vision at the start that people had where we could get to as an England white ball team, and there's no reason why we shouldn't go on from strength to strength,” said Buttler.
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Ben Stokes played an important innings (52 not out off 49 deliveries) to guide England home and the captain felt proud at the way the maverick all-rounder came up with a big performance once again.
“He (Stokes) always stands up in the biggest moments. He's a man who can take a lot of pressure on his shoulders and perform, and with him in the middle, you know you've got a good chance. Just so proud of him, pleased for him that he's stood up and done it again,” said Buttler.
The Three Lions skipper was full of praise of his bowlers as batters often get the credit for their attacking show, but Buttler thinks the likes of Sam Curran and the rest gave them the edge.
“The depth of our bowling has been amazing. I think our bowling has improved a lot and that's why we're sitting here as champions to be honest. Curran has stepped up and been an absolute revolution. He's a brilliant cricketer. He loves those crunch moments. He's deserved Player of the Tournament for this, and we're so proud to have him in our team,” said Buttler.
“I think you can't underestimate the hard work that people have put in, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes coming back from injuries to get to this point, Chris Jordan being injured, as well, to get to this point, guys getting injured during the T20 World Cup. Just such an amazing effort from everyone.”