IND v ENG 2021: Eoin Morgan ruled out of the last two ODIs; Jos Buttler to captain England

ECB also gave an update on Sam Billings injury as well.

By Jatin Sharma - 25 Mar, 2021

England captain Eoin Morgan will not be available for the last two ODIs of the three-match series against India, which will be played on March 26 and March 28 at the MCA Stadium in Pune. In his place, Jos Buttler will captain England for the remainder of the series.

Morgan had hurt his hand, splitting the webbing between his thumb and index finger, and had required stitches during the first match on Tuesday. However, Morgan was able to bat for during England’s chase of 317 runs.

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However, on Thursday, he went through a fielding drill in Pune 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. 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,” Morgan said in the ECB media release.

“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,” he added.

The ECB also released information on the injury of Sam Billings and confirmed that he will miss the second ODI against India to be played on March 26. Billings who had bruised his collar bone during India’s innings and didn’t field for the remainder of innings, but came out to bat.

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Billings didn’t train on Thursday, as the injury remained sore.

In their place, ECB has confirmed that Liam Livingstone will make his ODI debut, and also Dawid Malan has been drafted into the squad and is available for selection in the playing XI.

(ECB inputs)

By Jatin Sharma - 25 Mar, 2021

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