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England cricket team captain Eoin Morgan has been ruled out of the remaining two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against India due to an injury.

The 34-year-old world cup winner was forced out of the field in the series opener on Tuesday after suffering a split webbing between his right thumb and index finger that required four stitches. Morgan was declared unfit on Thursday after he went through a field drilling at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) in Pune.

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."

Additionally, middle-order batsman Sam Billings will be unavailable for the second ODI after he suffered a bruised left collar bone while fielding in Tuesday's opening encounter.

The England Cricket Board (ECB) has further announced that Jos Buttler will captain the side in Morgan’s absence while Liam Livingstone will make his ODI debut.

Meanwhile, Dawid Malan, who is already with the team as a cover, has been drafted into the squad and is available for selection.

 

Feature image courtesy: Twitter/ICC

 



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