England’s star all-rounder Liam Livingstone is doubtful to play in the team’s opening match of the T20 World Cup against the defending champions West Indies on October 23. The 27-year-old suffered a finger injury on Monday in the warm-up match against India. Livingstone was seen leaving the field in pain with the team’s physio to get his left-hand's finger treated, which was injured when he attempted to take a catch in the mid-wicket region.
The England team management will monitor Livingstone’s condition for the next 24 hours and a call will be taken on whether he will be fit to take the field for the opening game.
If the injury turns out to be serious, it will be a big set-back for England as the hard-hitting batter, who made his place in the team as Ben Stokes’ replacement had scored England’s fastest T20I ton against Pakistan and was also named the MVP of the season during the inaugural edition of the Hundred.
India, England went up against each other in the warm-up game on Monday where Virat Kohli-led India trumped England by seven wickets. England batted well and posted a good total of 188 for India with contributions from Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali, who scored 49 and 43 respectively. Livingstone also returned to form with a 30-run cameo after dismal performances for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. In reply, Indian pair of KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan put up an opening partnership of 82-runs and laid the platform for India’s victory. Among bowlers, Mohammed Shami picked up three wickets and Ravichandran Ashwin was the most economical bowler conceding just 23 runs in his four overs.
