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In a big setback to England's T20 World Cup campaign, all-rounder Liam Livingstone remains doubtful for their T20 World Cup opening fixture against West Indies after sustaining a finger injury in the warm-up match against India on Monday. Livingstone picked up this injury while attempting to grab a catch at the boundary.
It is being reported that the England team management will assess his condition within the next 24 hours before taking a call on his availability for the opening match or the remainder of the tournament. England's game is slated on October 23 which means there are a few days for Livingstone to recover, in case he has a minor injury.
Notably, the little finger on his left hand appeared swollen as he left the ground post dropping the catch during the dying stages of England's defeat to India in the first warm-up game. In case, the injury is diagnosed as a fracture then the 28-year-old is almost certain of being ruled out of the competition since it would take a good few weeks to recover completely.
Livingstone was included as replacement for Ben Stokes
The news is going to hurt England more due to the fact that Livingstone was a replacement himself, coming in for star all-rounder Ben Stokes who had taken a mental health break and was not available for selection for this ICC event.
While the right-handed batter scored 30 runs from 20 balls and appeared good during his stint at the wicket on Monday, he returned to bowl 2 overs for 10 runs and even picked up the wicket of Virat Kohli.
Talking about the match overall, Jos Buttler was leading the side in the absence of Eoin Morgan who is coming on the back of a hectic IPL schedule, playing his last game on October 15. The Three Lions batted first and had posted a competitive 188/5, however, led by Ishan Kishan's 46-ball 70 and ably supported by KL Rahul's 24-ball 51 and Rishabh Pant's 14-ball 29, India chased down the target with an over to spare.
Earlier, Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers for the Men in Blue scalping 3 wickets for 40 runs.