InMobi

Scorchers star Livingstone set for one-day debut

Perth Scorchers big-hitting batsman Liam Livingstone to play in place of England captain Eoin Morgan, who ruled himself out with a hand injury

England captain Eoin Morgan has been ruled out of the final two one-day internationals against India in Pune after splitting the webbing between his thumb and index finger in Tuesday's opener.

Jos Buttler will be captain for Friday's second match while batsman Liam Livingstone is set to make his ODI debut.

Livingstone, who has thrilled the KFC BBL for the past two summers with the Perth Scorchers, previously played two T20 internationals in 2017 in his only previous international cricket.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings, who has a bruised collar bone, will be sidelined on Friday, with a decision on his fitness for Sunday's final match to be taken in due course. Batsman Dawid Malan, the top ranked T20 batter who played his only ODI against Ireland in 2019, is also available for selection.

Morgan came out to bat with four stitches in his right hand, having split his webbing while fielding, on Tuesday and scored a defiant 22 as England lost the match by 66 runs.

He went through a fielding drill during training at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Thursday before declaring himself unfit.

"I had the hand re-dressed before the start of training but it quickly became apparent that I found myself protecting the injury and getting into the wrong positions to catch the ball," Morgan said.

"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."

Morgan's injury is similar to that suffered by NSW Blues allrounder Sean Abbott in last week's Marsh Sheffield Shield clash with Tasmania. Abbott split webbing between fingers fielding off his own bowling and couldn't take any further part in the match and is an uncertain starter for NSW's next fixture, a Marsh Cup clash against Queensland on March 31.

India batsman Shreyas Iyer is also out of the remaining two ODIs due to a shoulder injury.