England's title defence at the T20 World Cup wilted following a 68-run hammering in the second semi-final but skipper Jos Buttler would not blame it on his decision to field against India on Thursday.
After rain and a wet outfield delayed the start of the match, Buttler elected to field after winning the toss, probably more comfortable chasing a target than setting one, especially with the prospect of more rain at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.
His decision pleased his counterpart Rohit Sharma, who led with the only half-century of the match as India posted a strong 171-7 on a slow surface where batting got trickier as the match wore on.
"With the rain around, we didn't think the conditions would change and they didn't -- they just outplayed us and got a very good score," Buttler said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"I don't think the toss was the difference between us."
The opener felt they conceded 20-25 extra runs on a challenging surface, which eventually allowed India to dictate terms.
A top-order meltdown left England reeling at 49-5, and they capitulated before the Indian spin duo of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, who claimed three wickets apiece.
Considering the support spinners had from the track, Buttler said he probably should have bowled off-spinner Moeen Ali too.
"Our two (spinners) bowled well but in hindsight, probably should have bowled Moeen in our innings with the way spin was playing.
"But with a good score and their brilliant bowling attack it was always going to be a tough chase."
"I think we were outplayed by India. They fully deserved the victory. So, yeah, I thought they had an above-par score. I was hoping to restrict them to 145 - 150 probably on that pitch," Buttler said.
Having won the toss, the England skipper went in with an unchanged XI and it was Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone who were his chosen spinners, overlooking Moeen Ali perhaps to deal with the damp conditions.
Rashid and Livingstone conceded just 49 runs in their eight overs with the former also ending the explosive innings of India skipper Rohit Sharma for a 39-ball 57 in the 14th over.
He added that the English were without luck while bowling in the powerplay of the first innings.
"I thought we bowled a little bit without luck in the powerplay, a few close calls there. But, yes, I think the benefit of hindsight and reflecting, I would have got Moeen (Ali) in the game of course. So, yes, bits and pieces here and there," he added.
The Buttler-led side managed to beat only one Test playing nation -- West Indies -- in this tournament and were on the brink of early elimination after a washout against Scotland and a defeat to Australia in the group stage.
However, Australia handed them a lifeline by beating Scotland and they narrowly managed to make the Super 8s beating Namibia via DLS method.
"Reaching a semi-final of a World Cup is an achievement. We wanted to obviously go all the way. That was what we came here for," said Buttler, who led them to the T20 World Cup title in 2022 after taking over white-ball captaincy from Eoin Morgan.
"We faced lots of challenges and adversity throughout the whole tournament and we've stuck together well and played well enough to get to this stage. But unfortunately, at this stage, we've fallen short."
"I think everyone has made progress and we've played well and not well enough, but I think the stuff that we've been doing behind the scenes, the way we've prepared, the way we've trained, the way we've played in patches has been really good.
"There's a lot of talent in the team. And yes, we came up against a top team today in these conditions," he said.
Asked if there would be fresh faces the next time, he said: "Yeah, I think... I can't do that. I haven't taken in the defeat. Very much thinking about this game and what happened and yeah, I think they say there's some time between today and the next matches, and we can see what happens."
On his future plans and whether he would stay on as captain until the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in February, he said: "To be honest, I'm just looking forward to some time away from the game.
"As I sit here, emotional after a loss, I don't need to dive too deep into it right now. I just look forward to some space from the game."
