Jonny Bairstow Doubtful For Opening T20I Against Sri Lanka

Jonny Bairstow looks doubtful for the opening T20I against Sri Lanka despite clear scans post his ankle injury. He picked up the injury in the Vitality T20 blast playing for Yorkshire against Worcestershire. Meanwhile, he continued batting with an injured ankle before leaving the ground. He injured his ankle while trying to run for a single after which he was taken scans that returned clear.

Jonny Bairstow had a successful scan on Thursday after which he joined the rest of the squad in Cardiff for the T20I series starting on Wednesday. The T20I series will be played between June 23-26 while the ODI series will run from June 29- July 4.

Jonny Bairstow Doubtful For First T20I vs Sri Lanka

England Cricket Board announced a 16-member T20I squad for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. The board announced the ODI squad on Saturday with Jonny Bairstow being part of both the squads. Chris Woakes, David Willey, and Liam Dawson made their return to the England side. Woakes played his last T20I for England way back in 2015 against Pakistan in Sharjah. On the other hand, Willey last played his last T20I in May 2019.

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Ben Stokes Among Players Not Picked

Jofra Archer, Reece Topley and Saqib Mahmood are also missing the Sri Lanka white-ball series due to injuries. Ben Stokes who has recovered from his finger injury has been left out of the squad as well.

England head coach Chris Silverwood came out with a statement on the series being an important one with the T20I World Cup coming up.

“With the T20 World Cup only a few months away, this summer is about perfecting our team and continue to progress on the field. We want to approach every series with an influx of players aiming to win every match and giving us the best preparation as we get closer to the tournament,” said Silverwood.

He further said that while some of his key players are out with injuries, it allows him to test the other players from the squad.

“With several high-profile players missing through injury, it allows me to look at some of our experienced players who have not featured at this level for some time. The likes of Chris Woakes and David Willey are very experienced cricketers, and to have them both in the mix is exciting and shows the depth of squad we have available,” he added.

England T20I Squad For SL Series

Eoin Morgan (C), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

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