Eoin Morgan sustained a split webbing between his thumb and index finger in Tuesday’s series opener; Sam Billings will also be unavailable for game two of the series on Friday; Liam Livingstone to make ODI debut
England captain Eoin Morgan will miss the final two one-day internationals of the ongoing series against India in Pune because of a “freak injury”.
Morgan sustained a split webbing between his thumb and index finger in Tuesday’s series opener, an injury that required four stitches.
Morgan went through a fielding drill during training at the MCA Stadium on Thursday and afterwards declared himself unfit.
Sam Billings will also be unavailable for game two of the series on Friday, with a decision on his availability for Sunday’s final match to be taken in due course.
Jos Buttler will captain England in Morgan’s absence and Liam Livingstone will make his ODI debut.
In a statement, Morgan said: “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.
“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.”
Billings did not train on Thursday after he suffered a bruised left collar bone while fielding in Tuesday’s opening match, and the injury remained sore on Thursday.
Dawid Malan, with the tour party as cover, has been drafted into the squad and is available for selection.
