England skipper Eoin Morgan and Sam Billings have been ruled out of the second ODI against India after sustaining injuries in the series-opener, dealing a fresh blow to the side’s floundering campaign.
Eoin Morgan Ruled Out of the ODI series
“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,” ECB’s website quoted Morgan as saying.
“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.”
Ben Stokes About the Teammates Injuries
Earlier, England all-rounder Ben Stokes spoke about the injuries sustained by the skipper Morgan and batsman Billings during the first ODI.
“Very unfortunate injuries to have from a team point of view. On the bright side, when Sam first fell over, we all held our breath as he had a shoulder issue in the past but then thankfully, things weren’t as bad as we initially thought, he is obviously continuing to get assessed.
“With the split webbing, Morgan has got, it could be quite annoying, I haven’t spoken to him about that since he has done it. So, I’m not sure where he is at, I’m sure he will be fine. Thankfully, Sam especially is a lot better than what we initially thought,” the all-rounder said.
England suffered a disappointing 66-run loss in the first ODI. Virat Kohli led India to score 317/5 in their 50 overs. In reply, the visitors were on course for an easy victory at 135 without loss in the 15th over before suffering a major collapse that saw them getting folded up for 251.
The second ODI between England and India will be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium on Friday.
