Eoin Morgan ruled out of ODI series with finger injury

England skipper Eoin Morgan will miss the last 2 ODI matches in the ongoing series against India in Pune because of a freak finger injury.

Wicket keeper batsman Jos Buttler will lead the team in Morgan’s absence. It was also known that Sam Billings is set to miss the 2nd ODI on Friday after suffering from a bruised collar bone. He did not train on Thursday. The decision on his availability for the last ODI on Sunday will be taken after observing his progress in the coming days.

With Morgan and Sam Billings gone – Liam Livingstone will make his ODI debut on Friday. The 27 year old right handed batsman has scored 1552 List A runs in 55 matches with an average of 36.09. He scored 1 century and 10 half centuries. He can also bowl his leg spinners which fetched him 23 List A wickets.

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 during training at the MCA Stadium on Thursday and afterwards declared himself unfit. Morgan is also the captain of KKR and his fitness might give some anxious nights for the franchise and fans alike.

“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.” Eoin Morgan said after the training on Thursday.

“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.” Morgan added.

India will take on England in the 2nd ODI on Friday, 26th March while the last ODI is scheduled to be played on Sunday, 28th March. Both matches will be played at Pune.