In a major blow to England, captain Eoin Morgan has been ruled out of the last 2 ODIs of the ongoing 3-match series against India in Pune. The England and Wales Cricket Board on Thursday confirmed Jos Buttler will lead the visiting team in the last two ODIs.
Meanwhile, middle-order batsman Sam Billings has also been ruled out of the 2nd ODI due to a bruised left collar bone that remained sore on Thursday, the ECB added.
Liam Livingstone will make his ODI debut on Friday in Pune as he fills in one spot in the power-packed England batting order. On the other hand, Dawid Malan, who was travelling with the squad as cover, has been drafted into the squad and is available for selection.
Morgan sustained a split webbing between his thumb and index finger in Tuesday’s series opener, an injury that required four stitches. The captain went through a fielding drill at the start of training at the MCA Stadium on Thursday and afterwards declared himself unfit.
“I had the hand re-dressed before the start of training today but it quickly became apparent that I found myself protecting the injury and getting into the wrong positions to catch the ball,” Morgan said.
“There’s nowhere to hide on the field in international cricket these days, especially in limited-over formats so it didn’t require any great thought to make myself unavailable.
“It was a freak injury and it’s extremely frustrating but there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s now just a case of letting the cut heal. I have every confidence in Jos and the rest of the squad coping without me.”
