England skipper Eoin Morgan has downplayed concerns over the hip injury sustained by Jos Buttler during his side’s 106-run win over Bangladesh in a 2019 ICC World Cup clash on Saturday.
Buttler smashed a 44-ball 66 at Cardiff in England’s mammoth total of 386-6 but did not come out to field at all during Bangladesh’s chase. Morgan is confident that the wicketkeeper batsman will be fit in time for England’s next clash against Windies on Friday but has insisted that he will not be rushed back prematurely.
“There’s no serious concern at that moment,” the England skipper said about Buttler’s injury status after the win.
“He’s going to be monitored over the next 48 hours, but at the moment it’s more precautionary than a situation where he is not able to do his job. I’m quite confident that it’s not a serious injury.”
Although England have an array of stars in their batting unit, Buttler has been one of the more consistent and reliable performers of late. Prior to his 33-ball fifty against Bangladesh on Saturday, the right-handed batsman had registered the fastest World Cup ton by an Englishman (75 balls) in his side’s loss to Pakistan at Trent Bridge.
Morgan is wary of rushing back the 28-year-old from injury even as only a specialist batsman for the Windies game.
“Would we play Buttler as a specialist batsman? It depends on the risk of him making his injury worse in the field,” Morgan said.
“If he is a risk going into the next game, it might not be worth it. In theory the best place to be would be with the gloves on. The worry would be that the high catch went up and he with the gloves would have to take the responsibility to take the catch, and make his hip worse.
“There are five days between now and the next game. We’ll use every day as much as we can to get try to get him back on the park.”
Following their big win over Bangladesh at Cardiff, hosts England have moved into second spot in the table behind New Zealand. Morgan’s men have so far clinched two victories and tasted one defeat in their three matches in the tournament.
