HAVING secured wins in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the past, the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy remains the only men’s white-ball event that England is yet to win.
Jos Buttler’s side will walk into the tournament with an intent to right their Champions Trophy record, and to finally break through for a triumph in this tournament, having come agonisingly close under the captaincy of Michael Vaughan (runners-up, 2004) and Alastair Cook (runners-up, 2013).

After an uninspiring run in their 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup campaign, where they finished seventh, England haven’t had the best of times in ODI cricket, having lost all of their four series in the format since.
However, that can be attributed to the absence of big names in the setup from these encounters. Many of their first-choice players haven’t featured regularly in ODIs, given the intermittent nature of the format (the side has played only 13 ODIs between the Cricket World Cup and the Champions Trophy- wherein the full-time captain Jos Buttler has featured in only six).

But this time, it’s all hands-on-deck. A full-strength England can pose a good challenge for its opponents.
With new white-ball head coach, Brendon McCullum, at the helm, having changed the flavour of English Test cricket after taking over in 2022, a title charge is highly possible.

Buttler, along with Joe Root and the talented Harry Brook, will form the crux of England batting, with fiery Ben Duckett and Phil Salt available for support.
England aren’t short of pace options in Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood and Saqib Mahmood, but focus will be on the guile of Adil Rashid, whose leg-spinners can be more than useful in Pakistan and UAE.

Squad:

Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood

Fixtures:
v Australia, Lahore, February 22
v Afghanistan, Lahore, February 26
v South Africa, Karachi, March 1 (ICC Media)