England Playing XI vs Australia: Jos Buttler names Playing 11 two days before ICC Champions Trophy clash

With the Three Lions set to take on Australia in a thrilling Champions Trophy match, interestingly, they announced their playing XI two days before.

Jos Buttler and company are all set for the Champions Trophy 2025, and what they did just before their opening game is certainly not new. The Three Lions revealed their playing XI against Australia. That’s correct, England is set to take on Australia in a mouth-watering contest.

The match is set to take place at the iconic Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on February 22, and there are high expectations from the Three Lions.

However, to be fair, not much has gone well for them in recent times. They lost the ODI series against India, 0-3.

In fact, after the 2023 World Cup, England played four ODI series but failed to win any of them. Since the end of the World Cup, they’ve played 14 ODIs, winning only four. Recent series results include: a 1-2 loss to the West Indies (away), a 2-3 loss to Australia (at home), a 1-2 loss to the West Indies (away), and a 3-0 loss to India (away). This clearly shows how they are struggling in the 50-over format. Also, let’s not forget their last ODI World Cup, which didn’t go well. It will be highly interesting to see how things comes for them in the upcoming Champions Trophy match against the Aussies.

We’ve named our XI for the first game against Australia 👇

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 20, 2025

⁠Jos Buttler (c), Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith (WK), Joe Root, Harry Brook, ⁠Liam Livingstone, ⁠Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, ⁠Adil Rashid, ⁠Mark Wood

The squad looks well-balanced, with wicketkeeper Jamie Smith set to do the glovework. They are going with a few strong seamers, from Jofra Archer to Brydon Carse and Mark Wood. Even the spinners are highly experienced, and the Three Lions have once again backed Adil Rashid as their spin leader, with part-timer Liam Livingstone as well.

The Rawalpindi pitch is generally known for being batter-friendly, and they have a solid batting lineup. Smith will look to make an impact, while Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, and Joe Root, no doubt wonderful batters all will look to do well against the Kangaroos.