The England national cricket team has suffered a major blow ahead of the white-ball series against the Australian national cricket team. According to reports from ESPNCricinfo, it has been learnt that Jos Buttler is a doubt for the T20I series against the 2021 T20 World Cup winners.
Jos Buttler has suffered a calf injury and has been ruled out of the T20 Blast quarter-finals for Lancashire. This makes him a doubt for the T20I series against the Australian National Cricket Team. However, the team management is not too worried about his injury ahead of the first match.
The England national cricket team management is hopeful that Jos Buttler will be available for the team in the first T20I against Australia. The first match of the series between the teams will be played on September 11. Reportedly, the team will have two days of training and only after that will a clear picture of Buttler be had.
If Jos Buttler is ruled out of the T20I series against the Australian National Cricket Team, there is no clarity on who will lead the team in his absence. The team does not have an official vice-captain and Sam Curran and Phil Salt are the candidates to take over the role if the captain misses the series.
Reports also claimed that Buttler will not be taking part in the T20I series against the Australian national cricket team. Hence, there are chances that he could be part of the squad in the series despite being ruled out of the T20 Blast quarter-finals for Lancashire.
Buttler was last seen in action during the semi-final of the 2024 T20 World Cup. However, he has not played a single match since then. He suffered a calf injury in July while preparing for the Hundred and was deemed unfit to play, ruling him out of the entire tournament.
Buttler was set to make his comeback in the T20 Blast quarter-finals after the rehabilitation period. However, things took a turn for the worse for him as he was deemed unfit to play even in the match for Lancashire in the domestic tournament in London.
Lancashire coach Dale Benkenstein confirms Jos Buttler has suffered a calf injury
Lancashire coach Dale Benkenstein said that Jos Buttler has suffered a calf injury and has been ruled out of Lancashire’s T20 series. While he mentioned that the wicketkeeper-batsman was keen to play for the team, he said that he might even struggle to get fit for the international series. Speaking to BBC Radio, he explained:
“We’ve had some bad news about his recovery. He had an injury that he was recovering from and he’s gotten injured again. Not only is he out of our T20s, but I think he’s even struggling to make it to the internationals. He was really looking forward to playing for us.”
English players Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone and Saqib Mahmood will play for Lancashire in the quarter-finals. Jofra Archer is also expected to play for Sussex, whose T20 team is captained by Tymal Mills.