Jos Buttler on Friday (February 28) stepped down as England’s white-ball captain, following his team’s group-stage exit from the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Buttler, 34, made the announcement in a media conference ahead of the team's final match of the campaign against South Africa in Karachi.

"It's the right decision for me, it's the right decision for the team, and hopefully somebody else can come in and work closely alongside [Brendon McCullum] to take the team back to where it needs to be," Buttler said in the presser.

"It was quite clear that this tournament was going to be important results-wise for my captaincy," he added, saying that he was sad and disappointed but he felt he had "reached the end of the road."

The Three Lions suffered defeats at the hands of Australia and Afghanistan in their Group B fixtures, and were knocked out of the tournament in the first round.

He added: "With Brendon coming in only recently, I was really excited to work closely alongside him and hope for a very quick turnaround and take the team forward, but it's not worked out that way. It feels like it's the right time for me and also for the team to have a change."

Asked whether it felt like a relief to hand over the leadership duties, Buttler demurred, describing it as "an immense honour to captain your country."

Jos Buttler was appointed as Eoin Morgan's successor in June 2022 and won the T20 World Cup in Australia later that year. But England's results have declined sharply since and after three underwhelming ICC events in a row - the 2023 ODI World Cup, the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy - he decided to relinquish the job.

Harry Brook, the designated vice-captain, is the early favourite to take over the captaincy role.