England’s white-ball stalwart Jos Buttler has addressed growing speculation around his international future following a disappointing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign. While the tournament exposed a rare dip in form for one of England’s most dependable performers, Buttler has made it clear that he is not ready to walk away from the international stage just yet.

Jos Buttler opens up on his future with England after poor campaign in T20 World Cup 2026

The 35-year-old wicketkeeper-batter endured a tough run in the recently concluded T20 World Cup held across India and Sri Lanka. Managing just 87 runs in eight innings, Buttler’s performances fell well below his usually high standards. Despite England reaching the semi-finals, their journey ended with a defeat against eventual champions India, leaving several questions about the team’s senior players.

Speaking candidly on his podcast For the Love of Cricket alongside former England pacer Stuart Broad, Buttler did not shy away from acknowledging his struggles.

He openly admitted that the tournament was disappointing on a personal level, especially given his expectations and experience. However, the veteran also emphasized that a lean patch does not define his career, pointing to the strong form he has shown in recent years.

“Obviously I had a poor tournament, which is disappointing. But I have been playing some of the best cricket of my (career) in recent years, so hopefully I can get back to playing my best,” said Buttler.

Future uncertain but motivation remains strong

Buttler’s role in the England setup has been under scrutiny, particularly after he stepped down from white-ball captaincy following England’s underwhelming Champions Trophy 2025 campaign. Without leadership responsibilities, his place in the side will now depend purely on performance and selection dynamics.

Despite this uncertainty, Buttler remains motivated to continue representing England. He expressed a balanced perspective on his future, stating that selection decisions are no longer in his control but his ambition to contribute to the national team remains very much alive.

“I certainly have ambitions (to play for England again), but no longer being a captain, I am not a selector and whatever, so what will be, will be,” explained Buttler.

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Time away from the game brings mental reset

Following the World Cup, Buttler chose to step away from cricket entirely, opting for a quiet family break in the French mountains. The decision, according to him, was crucial in helping him mentally reset after a demanding and disappointing tournament. He described the time away as exactly what he needed, allowing him to disconnect from the pressures of professional cricket. For a player who has been at the top level for over a decade, such breaks can often play a key role in rediscovering rhythm and focus.

“I couldn’t have been further away from cricket, which for me at the time was just perfect. It is exactly what I needed,” added Buttler.

Buttler is now set to return to competitive action in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL), where he will represent Gujarat Titans. The tournament presents a valuable opportunity for him to regain form, rebuild confidence, and make a strong statement ahead of future international selections.

Also READ: Aakash Chopra predicts the Orange Cap and Puple Cap winners of IPL 2026

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Quick quiz: Since the first T20 World Cup in 2007, how many players who played only ODI cricket have been part of a 50-over World Cup-winning side? Answer: None. In 2027, across Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, Rohit and Kohli would love to change that. Assuming, of course, that they will be picked. Having retired from Tests and T20Is, they now occupy a curious space: giant names, shrinking game-time. Which is why this IPL matters so much. It is their most visible audition. If both want to convince a team management and selection panel that has become increasingly ruthless and pragmatic, they need to perform over the next eight weeks for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, respectively. That may sound dramatic. After all, few players have achieved more. But the road to the 2027 ODI World Cup will not be paved by reputation or old highlights. It will depend on present-day form and fitness. Both remain in the conversation, with captain Shubman Gill and others indicating as much. The harder question is whether they can last that long. For Rohit, who turns 39 on April 30, and Kohli, now 37, this IPL is a fitness test-cum-batting examination. Both are now one-format cricketers. Both must show they can endure a long, high-intensity campaign and still be standing in 2027. Fitness, though, is only half the issue. Form, that fickle friend, is the other. Ask any Indian cricketer what they fear most and the answer is simple: being out of sight, out of mind. That is what makes this IPL so important for Rohit and Kohli. It puts them back in view after public attention was seized by the heroes of India’s T20 World Cup triumph. ODIs are increasingly rare. India last played a five-match ODI series in Feb–March 2019. For single-format players, one poor series can mean a long wait for another chance. Those gaps hurt batters most: rhythm fades, match sharpness dulls and every failure feels terminal. For them, every substantial IPL innings will be read as evidence — or the lack of it — that Rohit and Kohli are still moving well, reacting sharply and carrying the intensity top-level ODI cricket demands. And unlike the IPL, ODIs offer no impact substitute, the ultimate safety valve for sluggish movers. It remains a seven-hour test of endurance. Lazy analysis has caused us to hyphenate Rohit and Kohli’s careers. Acronyms like the nauseating “Ro-Ko” have only reinforced that. Yet, the stakes are higher for Rohit. His ODI legacy is secure but age and role now sit at the heart of the debate, especially with younger opening options available alongside Gill that offer greater athletic value in the field. Fan armies have dressed up Rohit’s loose dismissals as intent. His rollicking 20s and 30s were hailed as selflessness. But poor habits become more stubborn with age. They bled into his Test game too, accelerating both technical decline and his eventual exit from the format. This IPL, selectors and coach Gautam Gambhir will watch him closely. Can Rohit start with intent, pull quality pace without losing shape, run hard, field efficiently and maintain acceptable fitness through a long campaign? He has crossed 500 runs in an IPL season only once, in 2013. Another middling season and quiet murmurs could metamorphose into harsh verdicts. His last three ODI scores, remember, were 3, 11 and 24. Kohli’s case is different. He has been the defining white-ball batter of his generation and one of Indian sport’s great athletic specimens. What he is chasing now is not excellence but sustained relevance. Against South Africa and New Zealand, he showed greater willingness to attack early, looking for boundaries inside his first 10 balls. It suggested adaptation. Kohli had already mastered low-risk accumulation in ODIs; now he has garnished it with consistent urgency. That matters in the IPL, where strike rate and impact shape or destroy narratives. Kohli will want to show he can still dominate key bowlers and keep pace with the modern game’s demands. If he can combine control with carnage, his case remains strong. He has 11 IPL seasons of 400-plus runs and while many came at strike rates in the mid-120s, in each of his last three seasons it has risen to above 140. Last year, while batting first, his strike rate was 147.8, higher than his strike rate while chasing, 142.18. Since 2025, his ODI strike rate is 98.45, above his career mark of 93.41. Kohli also knows that when senior players try to stretch themselves into another World Cup cycle, selectors judge more than numbers. They look for hunger, energy and intent. The IPL, played under relentless scrutiny and offering instant, unforgiving public judgment, is the perfect stage for such examinations. The league has increasingly become a selection filter across formats in India — sometimes, disturbingly, even for Tests. For Rohit and Kohli, this season is more than a tournament. It is their ticket to relevance.

NEW DELHI : Weight-loss therapy costs are set to reduce substantially by up to 90%, with generic versions of injectable semaglutide are expected to hit pharmacy shelves from March 21. The move kicks off one of the most closely watched price wars in the high-stakes obesity and diabetes drug market.This is in the wake of the innovator Novo Nordisk’s patent on semaglutide, the key ingredient in these therapies, expiring on Friday. Two drugmakers including Natco Pharma and Eris Lifesciences announced plans to roll out the pen-filled jabs over 50% cheaper than the innovator’s price, in April. Interestingly, in a bid to lower the therapy cost further, they are also introducing vials at Rs 1,300 per month — about 90% cheaper than the innovator brand Ozempic.The vial will need to be administered through a syringe by a trained hand. More companies including Sun Pharma, Zydus and Dr Reddy’s are expected to join the highgrowth Rs 1,500 crore therapy market on Day 1 (March 21).Blockbuster therapies — Wegovy and Mounjaro — marketed by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly respectively, were launched at ‘’India-specific prices’’ last year, while global bestseller Ozempic by the Dutch firm, made its India debut in Dec last year. Semaglutide, a GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor agonist, helps to control blood sugar and improve satiety, reducing cravings for food, eventually inducing weight-loss.Natco plans to launch a semaglutide pen device in April starting at Rs 4,000 per month. The innovator Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic is priced at Rs 8,800 per month for the lowest strength. It is also introducing multi-dose vials starting at Rs 1,290 per month.Natco said: “It is the most affordable GLP-1 in Indian market as it is around 70% cheaper than pen device, and 90% cheaper than the price of the innovator’s brand. This will increase patient accessibility to the GLP-1 therapy and would help in long term compliance for the patients.”

MUMBAI: HDFC Bank has terminated three employees, including senior executives, after an internal probe into the alleged mis-selling of Credit Suisse AT-1 bonds to NRI clients at its UAE operations. The action follows regulatory scrutiny and investor complaints. Shares of the bank closed down 2.4%, continuing Thursday’s decline following the sudden resignation of the bank’s chairman Atanu Chakraborty.The employees dismissed include Sampath Kumar, group head of branch banking, Harsh Gupta, EVP for Middle East, Africa and NRI business, and Payal Mandhyan, SVP, for their roles in selling high-risk AT-1 bonds through the bank’s Dubai branch, in an episode that began in Jan 2025 and has since drawn attention to persistent concerns around such instruments after the Credit Suisse collapse.In response to a query, HDFC bank said, “The bank identified certain gaps in client onboarding requirements at its DIFC branch in the UAE and has completed a detailed and objective review of the matter. “Appropriate remedial actions have been taken in line with internal policies. Personnel changes have been undertaken along with appropriate action as per the bank’s conduct regulation.”AT-1 bonds are debt instruments with equity-like features. They offer higher yields but do not appreciate like equity, and the issuer’s liabilities can be extinguished if the bank’s net worth is impaired. In the event of bankruptcy, these instruments rank lowest among fixed income securities for repayment priority.According to allegations, staff in the Dubai and Bahrain branches persuaded NRI clients to shift FCNR deposits from India to Bahrain by presenting the bonds as fixed-maturity products with assured returns. Investors were asked to sign blank documents, and key disclosures on the perpetual nature and high risk of AT-1 bonds were omitted.These bonds were later written off during the UBS-led bailout of Credit Suisse, leading to losses for investors. The probe began in Jan 2025 after complaints from NRI investors and led to the suspension of Harsh Gupta and Payal Mandhyan. The bank’s internal investigation, conducted amid restrictions imposed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, concluded on March 18 resulting in the terminations. The Dubai regulator barred the bank from onboarding new clients in the emirate, and the lender faces investor lawsuits.

MUMBAI: Net selling by foreign funds in the stock market is on track to break the all-time monthly record as rupee this month has been weakening to record lows at regular intervals and rising crude oil prices are threatening India’s macro fundamentals as the war in West Asia is continuing without any sign of de-escalation.So far in the month, foreign portfolio investors have taken out Rs 93,698 crore from the stock market alone, data combined from NSDL and BSE showed. This is less than Rs 500 crore from the biggest net outflow number that was recorded in Oct 2024, at Rs 94,017 crore, NSDL data showed.On an average, in the current month foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have net sold stocks worth almost Rs 7,000 crore, withfive trading sessions remaining in the month (markets are closed on Mar 26 and Mar 31).On Friday, the FPIs took out Rs 5,518 crore net from the market although the sensex closed with a 326-point gain, a marginal reversal from the brutal Thursday session that saw nearly 2,500 points shaved off the index. So far in the month, the sensex has lost a little over 6,750 points or 8.3% mainly because of the war-induced FPI selling that also weakened the rupee.Similar to last few weeks, Friday’s session was also marked by high volatility with sensex rallying by over 1,000 points in early trades only to witness strong profit booking. At close the index was up just 0.4% at 74,533 points. On a weekly basis, the index has barely moved: The previous Friday (Mar 13) it had closed at 74,563 points. On the NSE, Nifty too showed high volatility and closed at 23,115 points, up 112 points (0.4%).During the day, traders preferred to reduce their risks ahead of the weekend with heightened uncertainty, market players said.According to Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities, the near-term trend for Nifty remains weak and the present bounce back could be a sell on the rise opportunity. “A weakness below 22,900 points could open the next downside target of 22,500 points in near term. However, the immediate resistance is placed at 23,380 points,” he said.Global shares fell for a third straight session on worries the Iran war would keep upward pressure on oil prices and rekindle inflation. On Wall St, Dow fell 0.5%, S& 0.7% and Nasdaq fell 1% while British and European equities logged a fall for third week straight and LatAm stocks plunged to two-month lows.