Jos Buttler must be granted time and patience to help England "evolve" as a white-ball side after a disappointing start to his captaincy following Eoin Morgan's international retirement.
That is the message from Joe Root, whose 86 at Durham on Tuesday was not enough to stop Buttler's team falling to a 62-run defeat against South Africa.
England lost back-to-back white-ball series against India before the defeat in the first of a three-match ODI series with South Africa following Buttler the appointment of Buttler as Eoin Morgan's successor.
Buttler has also failed to deliver with the bat since taking the captaincy, passing 50 just once in his past seven innings - including three single-figure scores.
Though the wicketkeeper-batter has lost five of his first seven games in charge, Root has backed Buttler as England go through a transitional period following Morgan's retirement.
"I think for Jos and a number of the guys who've been around this setup for a couple of years, there's been a lot of change in a very short space of time," said the former Test captain.
"And that sometimes can just take a little bit of getting used to and there's not been that time yet where you can really sit and reflect and sort of work things out.
"So I think there has to be some sort of understanding towards that. But they are big figures that you mentioned, influential players, and that creates great opportunities for guys to step right up and really take hold of a few positions within the team and not just in terms of performance, but in filling those leadership voids as well.
"There are some very talented players, some great cricket minds that can go on and do some special things like Eoin has done and Ben [Stokes] has done as well for the last seven to 10 years."
The ODI retirement of Test captain Stokes, who has stepped away from 50-over internationals as he says playing in all three formats is "unst, gives Buttler another issue to contend with in his middle order.
While Stokes embodied the attacking and front-foot approach that Morgan's team embraced en route to winning the Cricket World Cup final in 2019, Root urged England to now adapt and evolve.
"I think as a team, you've always got to look to evolve," he added. "You always do. And I think we did that very well over a four-year period.
"I don't think we just said 'right this is how we're going to do it for four years and we can't move away from that.'
"I think we grew and we evolved and developed and became good in different situations in different conditions around the world. We had to be if we were going to be consistent and take some of the best teams on in their own conditions.
"I think that's exactly as things will have to happen moving forward as well. I know Jos has got a great cricket mind, he understands this game brilliantly.
"He's going to be a great captain. And I don't think these results are a fair reflection of the way that he's going about his business as a leader.
"Sometimes it does take time for things to bed in. I don't think it will take that long with him. I just think that we haven't had a lot of the format. We've had a very busy schedule."
Stokes could return for England’s second Test against Pakistan, hints Pope
England stand-in captain Ollie Pope has hinted that Ben Stokes could return to the team for their second Test match against Pakistan in Multan, starting on Tuesday.
With Stokes still nursing a hamstring injury, England cruised to an emphatic innings victory against Pakistan at the same venue in the opener, inspired by the brilliant batting performances of Harry Brook (317) and Joe Root (262).
The win by an innings and 47 runs, which came early on the fifth day, saw the tourists become the first team in Test cricket history to concede more than 500 runs in the first innings but still end up winning the match by an innings.
Asked about team news for the second of the three Tests on the tour, Pope let slip that Stokes could be involved.
“I don’t know. I'm actually not 100 per cent sure,” he added.
“He's been training really well this week. He's as keen as ever to get playing again, so fingers crossed he's all good.”
Pope has deputised as England captain after full-time skipper Stokes suffered a hamstring injury in August which saw him miss the home Test series against Sri Lanka.
The 33-year-old was included in the England squad for the Pakistan tour and was expected to return for the first Test, but failed to recover in time as the visitors scripted cricketing history in Multan.
Record-breaking Root is England's 'greatest ever', says Pope
Ollie Pope labelled Joe Root as England's "greatest ever batter" after the former Test captain helped inspire England to an emphatic win over Pakistan.
Jack Leach took the three wickets England required on day five for the record-breaking innings and 47-run triumph, which handed the tourists a 1-0 lead in their three-match series.
The win saw England become the first team in Test history to concede over 500 in the first innings, and still end up winning by an innings.
The turnaround was built on Harry Brook (317) and Root (262), as England amassed 823-7 before stand-in captain Pope declared, their highest total since 1938 and the fourth-highest in Test cricket history.
In the process, Root moved onto 12,664 runs in the longest format, seeing him surpass Alastair Cook (12,472) as England's all-time leading Test run scorer.
"What a player. I admire his consistency and longevity," Pope said of Root.
"I think he is playing his best ever cricket. When he gets on a hot run, he makes it count, and he is England's greatest-ever batter.
"He is a joy to be around in the changing room."
While Root tallied up his highest Test score, Brook became the sixth England player to score a triple-century.
Together, Root and Brook surpassed England's previous record partnership of 409 runs – set by Colin Cowdrey and Peter May against the West Indies in 1957.
When Root, who is now England's record run scorer in Tests, eventually fell, it brought an end to a partnership of 454 - the fourth-highest in the history of the longest format.
"From a personal point you want to put in those scores that's always the case for a batter, but it was a joy to watch the way Joe and Harry played," Pope said.
"Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley were awesome too – it was a joy to watch, and they're great players."
On the other hand, it was another humiliating defeat for Pakistan, who are enduring one of the worst periods in their history.
Pakistan are now winless in their last 11 Test matches on home soil, but captain Shan Masood said England's impressive display is something his side can learn from.
"Like I said, 220 in the third innings, depending on what kind of lead you have, can also be a good score," Masood said.
"The trick for us is that we should learn from England as well, they found out ways to get those 20 wickets. You can't win Test matches without taking 20 wickets.
"As a team, we have that second innings of batting to improve, but we must also take 20 wickets."
Venezuela 1-1 Argentina: Rondon equaliser thwarts world champions on Messi return
Argentina dropped points in a second successive CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier, as Venezuela held them to a 1-1 draw in Maturin.
The spoils were shared at Estadio Monumental de Maturin, where Salomon Rondon's second-half header cancelled out Nicolas Otamendi's earlier effort.
After heavy rain delayed kick-off, Argentina took the lead in the 13th minute.
Venezuela goalkeeper Rafael Romo failed to properly clear the returning Lionel Messi's free-kick, and Otamendi reacted quickest to poke home from 12 yards out.
The hosts went close to levelling either side of the break. German Pezzella cleared off the line from Rondon, while Geronimo Rulli - deputising for the suspended Emiliano Martinez - kept out Yangel Herrera's powerful header.
However, Venezuela did grab their equaliser in the 65th minute - and subsequently a point - when Rondon rose at the near post to power home from Yeferson Soteldo's cross.
Messi returned to the international scene for the first time since limping off in tears during the Copa America final.
But the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner could not help Argentina get back to winning ways, while he conceded possession the joint-most times (19) by any visiting player.
The conditions certainly affected the flow of the game, and was more to the suiting of Venezuela. Although they had just 40.1% of possession, the hosts outshot their opponents 16-8.
However, they have now failed to win their last five CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers; their longest streak since going six without victory between June and October 2021.
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