September 3, 2024

Jos Buttler doubt for Australia T20Is after pulling out of Blast quarter-final

England captain Jos Buttler will miss Lancashire’s T20 Blast quarter-final due to a setback in his recovery from a calf injury. He hasn’t played since June and now faces a race to be fit for England’s T20I series against Australia.

Although there is some concern about Buttler’s fitness, England remain hopeful that he will be ready to captain the team throughout Australia’s eight-match white-ball tour. The squad will gather at the Utilita Bowl on Sunday for training, where medical staff will assess his condition.

England’s white-ball teams currently lack an official vice-captain, but Sam Curran and Phil Salt are the main candidates to step in if needed. Buttler is not expected to keep wicket during the T20I series, which may improve his chances of playing despite the recent setback.

Buttler has been sidelined since England’s semi-final loss to India at the T20 World Cup in June. He injured his calf in July while preparing for the Hundred and had hoped to return in Wednesday’s quarter-final at Hove after a period of rehabilitation.

But he has now been ruled out of contention, as their coach Dale Benkenstein confirmed to BBC Radio Lancashire. “We’ve had some bad news on his recovery,” Benkenstein said. “He had an injury he was recovering from, and he’s sort of tweaked it again. He’s not only just out of our T20s, but I think he’s even struggling to make the international ones. He was very keen to play for us.”

Lancashire will have their other England players available for Wednesday night’s match at Hove. Sam Salt, Liam Livingstone, and Saqib Mahmood are all set to play. Jofra Archer is also expected to feature for Sussex, who are led by captain Tymal Mills. Hove hasn’t hosted a T20 quarter-final with a crowd since 2019, and tickets have been sold out for the past two weeks.

Sunil Gavaskar’s Bold Prediction For India vs Australia Border-Gavaskar Trophy

India have won the last two Border-Gavaskar Trophy series held in Australia, in 2018/19 and 2020/21. Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has predicted a 3-1 victory for India over Australia in this year’s highly anticipated series. The 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy will feature a five-match series, with games taking place in Perth, Adelaide (a pink-ball match), Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.

“It’s going to be an exciting series for sure with the talent that is there on both sides and it will also show why Test match cricket is the ultimate format of our beloved game. Oh, and my prediction is a 3-1 win for India,” wrote Gavaskar in his column for Sunday Mid-day.

He also believes that Australia will miss left-handed opener David Warner, who retired from international cricket earlier this year. Since Warner’s retirement, Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja have been opening the innings for Australia in Tests, but they have only averaged 21.3 runs per innings over seven matches.

“With their opening batting problems exacerbated after the retirement of David Warner and the middle-order also a bit dodgy, the Aussies are ripe for the taking once again. India being usual slow starters in an overseas series in SENA countries the first Test will be crucial.”

“That they aren’t playing proper first class games before that as well as in the week long gaps between some Test matches could work against them. That said, it is how schedules are nowadays for most touring sides,” added Gavaskar.

With many already predicting Australia as early favorites to win the trophy, Gavaskar has shared some advice on handling the psychological tactics ahead of the series. The series, starting on November 22, will be the first five-match Test series between the two teams since the 1991/92 season.

“The five Test matches that India play (at home) before they go to Australia will be good for the mental tuning that is required for a tough tour like that. Already the mind games have begun with Australian players, both current and former, airing their views about what the result would be.”

“While they (Australia) are not making Glenn McGrath-like statements of a clean sweep they are still suggesting that Australia will prevail. Sadly, apart from Ravi Shastri, no other former or current player has seen to counter the mind games which the Aussies are so good at.”

“Maybe Ravichandran Ashwin should start telling us about a special delivery that he is developing for Steve Smith, that is, of course, if he continues to open the batting and can survive Jasprit Bumrah,” he concluded.