England white-ball skipper Jos Buttler is likely to miss all the remaining three matches of the seven-match T20I series against Pakistan as the visiting side’s head coach Matthew Mott has said he won’t take any risk with the injured player just weeks before the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup.
Buttler had earlier picked up a calf injury while playing domestic cricket in England and is yet to fully recover from it and hasn”t played any international cricket since he led the national side against South Africa in a T20I in Southampton in July-end. In Buttler’s absence, all-rounder Moeen Ali is leading the touring side against Pakistan.
Although Buttler is accompanying his white-ball side to Pakistan, he hasn’t played any game so far in the tournament but was expected to be a part of the playing XI in the upcoming fifth T20I in Lahore. However, Buttler’s participation now seem doubtful as coach Mott has taken an extremely cautious approach and has hinted that the regular England captain might well miss all the games in the sub-continent.
“With regards to Jos, he’s still a while off,” Mott was quoted as saying in Lahore by ICC.
“He’s not a player we want to take a risk on at this stage, so close to a (T20) World Cup, and it was a reasonably significant injury that he had. He’s champing at the bit for a game but we’ll just try and see how we go. Maybe in the last game or two, he might be a chance,” he added.
Significantly, Buttler’s availability for the T20 World in Australia is very crucial for England’s fortunes, with the charismatic opener finishing last year’s event in the UAE as the fourth leading run-scorer. Prior to it, he had also emerged as the leading scorer in IPL 2022, smashing four centuries and a mind-boggling 863 runs for Rajasthan Royals.
Even if Buttler misses the ongoing series against Pakistan, Buttler could still get a few opportunities to tune up his game ahead of the showpiece event in Australia as the Three Lions isscheduled to play four warm-up games Down Under before their opening match of the T20 World Cup.
“We couldn’t ask for better preparation than games like tonight (Sunday against Pakistan) where it’s all on the line with a couple of overs to go and players are under pressure,” he said. “To play in high-pressure situations in front of a big crowd that was right into the game (is great).
“Yes, we would love to have won, but I think when you head into a World Cup, you want to play against good opposition in tough games and it’s been every bit of that,” added Mott.
The ongoing T20I series is currently levelled at 2-2.