It has been a huge setback in the injury recovery for the T20I captain of the England side, Jos Buttler, who is set to miss the upcoming T20 Blast quarter-final for Lancashire and is in a race to be fit for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Australia, scheduled to take place on the second week of September.
The team management isn’t much concerned about the fitness of their wicket-keeper opening batter, Jos Buttler, ahead of their opening T20I game on September 11 and hopes to get him in the leadership role for their upcoming eight-match white-ball series against touring Australia.
The new-look squad of the 2022 champions is set to report at the Rose Bowl on Sunday ahead of their two training days, where the medical team will get a clear view of the veteran, and if he is going to be available for the series.
One of These two players to lead England in the absence of Jos Buttler
England didn’t enjoy a great time in India during their title defense of the ODI World Cup, before going through such hard times again in the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and United States of America (USA), where Jos Buttler struggled in patches with the bat in and, and also as the captain of the side.
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As a team, they don’t have an official vice-captain of the side, with the left-arm pace bowling all-rounder Sam Curran and the wicket-keeping opener Phil Salt could be the main contenders for the role. Buttler is anyway not expected to keep wickets in this series, which would also be a huge suffering for the team.
The 33-year-old has notched up 3264 runs for the national side in 114 innings at an average of under 36 and a strike rate of 146.30, with the help of 24 half-centuries and one century with the best score of an unbeaten 101-run knock. The veteran hasn’t played since their semi-final defeat against India in their June T20 World Cup campaign, as he sustained a calf injury while preparing for the Hundred which ruled him out of the tournament.
Their coach Dale Benkenstein on Monday (September 02) confirmed the news to BBC Radio Lancashire that their opening batter has received a huge setback in the recovery.
“We’ve had some bad news on his recovery. He had an injury he was recovering from, and he’s sort of tweaked it again.” Benkenstein expressed. “He’s not only just out of our T20s, but I think he’s even struggling to make the international ones. He was very keen to play for us.”
England’s team selection of the T20I series suggests that they have put their focus on the upcoming generation as they left out some of their key players. Jacob Bethell has got a chance for the shortest format of the game, along with Jordan Cox and John Turner.
Also Read: Jos Buttler Wants This Rajasthan Royals Colleague To Become Next England Head Coach
One of the things the team will miss in the absence of Jos Buttler, especially against a team like Australia, will be the former’s incredible experience in T20s, where he has smashed 11842 runs in 400 innings at an average of 35.03 and a strike rate of 145.03, celebrating 82 half-centuries and eight fifties with a best score of 124-run knock.
The first game of the three-match series will be played on the very next day of the scheduled end of the third Test between England and Sri Lanka at the Kennington Oval, at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. They will then move to Cardiff and Nottingham for the second games.