Jos Buttler, who is England’s captain for white ball cricket has just been ruled out of the forthcoming T20I series against Australia. It now looks likely that Buttler will also not participate in the subsequent five-match ODI series following the T20I series. When he took to Instagram to express his disappointment over this injury, he wrote, “It is frustrating to have a setback with injuries but I am working hard at getting it right.” This made it clear that he was not very happy with what happened; after all he is hell bent on getting back on field after healing up.
It was another misalignment since he was still nursing an injury on his right calf. In his place, Phil Salt has been named England’s captain for the T20I team.
Buttler’s injury came about during July while he was preparing for The Hundred and hence missed out on the tournament altogether. He hoped to return during Lancashire’s quarter-final match against Sussex within the Vitality Blast context that is set on September 11th but may now miss this game too. With Buttler’s injury getting worse by the minute, it appears plausible that there won’t be any summer matches for him at all. The last time Buttler played for England was in their T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final loss against India on June 27th
This is the third calf injury for Buttler in four years, which is a noteworthy point. As he approaches his 34th birthday this Sunday, Buttler could consider relinquishing the captaincy role to preserve his body, especially with the future of both his captaincy and playing career at risk. If Buttler fails to recover on time, it has also been said that Harry Brook could be made the ODI cricket captain during the Australia series.
ENGLAND SQUADS FOR AUSTRALIA SERIES:
England Men’s IT20 Squad: Phil Salt, Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, John Turner.
England Men’s ODI Squad: Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Reece Topley, John Turner.
