The visiting side England will be without their regular captain Eoin Morgan for the remaining two ODIs of the 3-match series. He sustained a split webbing in the first ODI on Tuesday (Mar 23) between his thumb and index finger which needed four stitches. Morgan had undergone a fielding drill after the stitches on Thursday (Mar 25) but the results were not satisfactory and the final decision has been made.
“I had the hand re-dressed before the start of training today [Mar 25] 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,” said Eoin Morgan, as quoted by ECB in their media release.
On the other hand, Sam Billings did not train on Thursday after sustaining a left collar bone injury during the first ODI match. He will not be available for selection for the second ODI match on Friday (Mar 26). David Malan who was earlier added as a batting cover for the ODI squad has now been drafted into the squad and will be available for selection. ECB has also confirmed that Liam Livingstone is going to make his ODI debut for England in the second ODI.
Livingstone will take Morgan’s place in the squad while Malan might replace injured Billings in the second ODI. At this juncture, home team India are currently leading the 3-match ODI series by 1-0 with the second ODI scheduled on Friday (Mar 26). The third and final ODI of the series will be played on Sunday (Mar 28). All the three ODIs are scheduled to be played in Pune.
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