England pacer Liam Plunkett has admitted he is not expecting a call up in the Ashes squad despite reinforcing his importance in the one-day team as the "bad guy". The 32-year-old bagged his maiden ODI five-wicket haul as England clinched a massive 124-run win against West Indies to go 2-0 up in the five-match series at Bristol.
Plunkett was only hit for six once by West Indies swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle as he finished with the figures of five for 52 which took him second, only behind Rashid Khan with 33 to the Afghanistan leg-spinner's 36, in this year's table of top ODI wicket-takers.
And Plunkett insisted that he has no issue about being cast as 'bad guy' for the fans if he succeeds in stopping the batsmen of boundaries.
"I love to be the bad guy for the crowd - it means I'm not getting hit out of the park. Everyone wants to see sixes and fours ... (but) that's why I do like it, because you feel as though you can run the game in that period, close a team down, squeeze them," Sport24 quoted Plunkett as saying.
Plunkett admitted that he enjoys being in the firing line.
"I do relish it. Obviously (Gayle) is a good player - and if you miss, he'll hit it miles. (But) we feel as though, if we can get an early wicket, we can get on top of them. We do back ourselves; we're a good team," he said.
Talking about the Ashes squad, which the England selectors are scheduled to announce on Wednesday, Plunkett said that although he would relish the chance to be part of the series, he did not expect his inclusion.
"Obviously I'd love to be in the Ashes squad ... but maybe they (the England selectors) think of me as a white-ball bowler. If I got the go-ahead, happy days - but I can't see it happening," he said.
Ahead of the fourth ODI against the Caribbean side at The Oval, Plunkett will come to know whether his white-ball form has put him back in the reckoning to add to his 13 Test caps - three years after his last one.
