England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced that Moeen Ali will lead the English side in the absence of Jos Buttler on the historic T20I tour of Pakistan. Buttler is likely to miss the majority part of the seven-match tour after suffering from an injury during the ongoing ‘The Hundred’.
However, Buttler has revealed that he might return in the second half of the series if he manages to fully recover from his calf injury. Buttler stated that his aim is to get some match practice in order to regain full fitness ahead of the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.
Moeen, who is England’s white-ball vice-captain, has been appointed as the captain for the tour on his return to his native homeland. Moeen has previously toured Pakistan during the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
England are expected to announce the squad for the tour at the end of the week. With the tour just under four weeks away, England face a dilemma as some of their star players are in danger of missing out due to injuries. Apart from Buttler, explosive middle-order batter, Liam Livingstone, and experienced opening batter, Jason Roy, are also likely to miss out due to injuries.
The seven-match T20I series is set to commence on 20 September in Karachi while the final match of the series will be held in Lahore on 2 October. This will be England’s first tour of the country in over 17 years.
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