England skipper Eoin Morgan didn't look pleased with the possibility of discarded opener Alex Hales' return to the side for this World Cup in wake of a hamstring injury to Jason Roy.
Hales was left out the national set-up at the beginning of this summer due to disciplinary reasons and a fall-out with players in the dressing room. Morgan played an integral role in making a final decision regarding that, apart from rest of the senior cricketers, coach and the selectors.
The three lions have won three of their four games in the tournament so far and will play Afghanistan on Tuesday (June 18) at the Old Trafford - a game which Roy could well miss out on besides the next two with Sri Lanka in Leeds on July 21 and Australia on July 25 at Lord's.
"We have not considered replacing any players yet," Morgan told BBC. "But If Ed Smith, the national selector, came to myself and Trevor Bayliss, the coach, and said he felt that Alex was the best option, we would have to assess how that would sit in the changing room and the stigma it would bring with Alex coming back."
"Ultimately Ed gets the final call on who is involved in the 15, so then we would have to address how that would look in our changing room."
Morgan is hoping no replacement for Roy will be required and he will be available for the marquee league clash with India on June 30 at Edgbaston. The team management hasn't yet revealed the seriousness of Roy's niggle. But he has been in observation of the medical staff.
"He'll miss the next two games. but we're giving him every chance to take that week to try to respond to treatment. We're giving him the best chance to get back into the tournament. He's obviously a huge part of what we've been doing. He's in the best form of his life. So he's very important."
"I'm optimistic about him returning to the team at some stage. I'll be very conscious of not pushing it, but that will also be dependent on results, how we're going in the tournament and what games we need to win to get into the semi-finals," Roy added.
"As the week goes along, we'll find out more about Jason, and the results from the two games we play will reflect decisions that we make. There is an element of not considering him until the semi-finals. He is a very key player for us, considering his contribution on and off the field and the form he is in - it's his career-best. We need that Jason Roy back," he concluded.
