England will not take a risk with the health of their captain Jos Buttler ahead of the World Cup, their coach Matthew Mott has confirmed despite the Somerset native itching to get on the playing field.
Buttler, who replaced Eoin Morgan as England’s captain after his retirement, is currently sidelined with a calf injury he sustained while taking part in The Hundred competition.
The 32-year-old is part of the touring party currently visiting Pakistan after 17 years but has not taken part in any of the four T20 internationals to date and is unlikely to feature in the next three fixtures with the T20 World Cup on the horizon.
“With regard to Jos (Buttler), he’s still a while off, he’s not a player we want to take a risk on at this stage, so close to the World Cup, and it was a reasonably significant injury that he had,” Mott told reporters.
“So, he’s champing at the bit for a game, but we’ll just try and see how we go and maybe in the last game or two we might give him a chance.”
Moeen Ali is leading the team in his stead with the series tied 2-2 heading into the final stretch in Lahore.
England will be looking to add their second T20 World Cup trophy in total and their first under the leadership of Jos Buttler in Australia. They will begin their quest on 22nd October against Afghanistan.
