Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton reckon Jos Buttler's time as England captain is up. (Reuters)Former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton slammed Jos Buttler’s leadership after the team’s stunning Champions Trophy 2025 exit on Wednesday, following their eight-run defeat to Afghanistan in Lahore.England’s string of defeats extended to seven straight matches since the India tour under Buttler’s leadership, with the captain himself struggling to contribute with the bat, scoring 23 and 38 in two games against Australia and Afghanistan.In a post-match chat with Atherton, Buttler conceded that he will take time to reflect on his position after heading back home. Meanwhile, Atherton and Hussain remarked that the captaincy tag never really suited Buttler, who took over from Eoin Morgan in mid-2022.“I think his time is done as captain,” Atherton said on Sky Sports. “I think that’s probably right. England do judge themselves on these ICC events, they’ve made that very clear, that because they come along so frequently now, they build towards these tournaments.“But England have had three bad ones in a row now, the disastrous 50-over World Cup in India, a poor T20 World Cup in the Caribbean – where they made the semis but they didn’t beat anybody of note through it – and now here, and their cricket is way below the standards which they set themselves.“Sometimes you just have to say it’s not working and therefore it’s time for a change and time for somebody else, and I think deep down, he probably knows that,” Atherton added.Meanwhile, Hussain said that Buttler could not command a persona like Morgan on the field while leading the side.Story continues below this ad“I’ve never looked at Buttler and thought ‘wow what a leader,’ he doesn’t have that presence in the field that an Eoin Morgan had,” Hussain said. “That’s a bad comparison because you’re talking about England’s greatest-ever white-ball captain, and he was a hard act to follow.“As far as captaincy goes, I don’t think Buttler has added that much to this England team, but it’s taken away from his batting. And when you add the two together, take away from a great player and you’re not gaining with leadership and captaincy, I think it’s probably time to move on.”© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd