New Delhi [India], August 3 (ANI): England captain Jos Buttler has been ruled out of The Hundred after sustaining a calf injury.
After the departure of Matthew Mott as England’s white-ball head coach, Buttler was retained as the skipper for the limited-overs format. After England crashed out of the T20 World Cup in the semi-final stage following a 68-run defeat against India, Buttler took a break from the game.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Buttler, who was set to feature for Manchester Originals, sustained the injury while preparing for the tournament.
An initial scan raised hopes he would be indicated towards the end of the tournament, but his withdrawal from The Hundred was confirmed on Saturday.
“Gutted to be missing the Hundred this year. Best of luck to the Manchester Originals for the rest of the campaign. Working hard to be 100% fit asap [as soon as possible],” Buttler wrote on his Instagram story.
Over the past couple of years, Buttler has suffered from several calf injuries. Due to a strain two years ago, Buttler was ruled out of England’s T20Is in Pakistan and also put his participation in the T20 World Cup in doubt.
Manchester Originals lost the final in the last edition of The Hundred. However, this year, the Originals are yet to win a single game in their ongoing campaign after playing three matches.
Buttler’s compatriot, Phil Salt, has been handed the captaincy. But since overtaking captaincy, he has mustered up 23 runs in three innings. Apart from Salt, their entire batting line-up has also struggled to put runs on the board.
The Originals’ coach, Simon Katich, initially lined up Lancashire’s club captain, Keaton Jennings, as Buttler’s replacement. However, due to the uncertainty around Buttler’s availability, the move got stalled.
The franchise has yet to confirm Buttler’s replacement ahead of their upcoming match against Northern Superchargers on Sunday. (ANI)
