Why Jos Buttler is not playing: Buttler ruled out of Sri Lanka series; Dawid Malan named replacement for ODIs

Jos Buttler ruled out: The English white-ball vice-captain will miss the remainder of four international matches against Sri Lanka.

England white-ball vice-captain Jos Buttler has been ruled out of the third T20I and the upcoming three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka due to a calf injury.

Buttler, 30, had sustained a calf injury which has been identified as a “small tear” in the first T20I in Cardiff earlier this week. It was due to the same reason that the wicket-keeper batsman had missed last night’s second T20I at the same venue.

Opening the batting in a 130-run chase on Wednesday, Buttler had shared an 80-run opening partnership alongside Jason Roy (36) to score a match-winning 68* (55) comprising of eight fours and a six.

Jos Buttler ruled out of Sri Lanka series

“He [Jos Buttler] underwent an MRI scan in Cardiff on Thursday morning, which revealed a small tear. Buttler felt tightness and discomfort at the end of the game after a match-winning 68 not out secured an eight-wicket win,” England Cricket Board said in a statement on Buttler.

While no replacement has been announced for the third T20I to be played tomorrow in Southampton, batsman Dawid Malan has been named as an official replacement for the ODI series. Having played the ODI series in India, Malan was among the five changes which were made to the original squad which had toured India.

In Buttler’s absence on Thursday, Jonny Bairstow not only played as a wicket-keeper batsman for the 10th time in his T20I career but also opened the batting for the 14th time in 47 innings.

Going forward in the remaining four international matches, England will multiple options to rest and rotate as the likes of Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Sam Billings and Moeen Ali can all play varying roles (either wicket-keeper or opening batsman) in the Playing XI.