Highlights
- England and Pakistan have won two T20Is each in the ongoing series
- The next three T20I matches of the series will be played in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
- Buttler had picked up the calf injury while playing in The Hundred
PAK vs ENG, 5th T20I: The ongoing series between England and Pakistan is turning out to be one thriller of a contest. It is a sees-saw at the moment with results swinging in the favor of both these teams on separate occasions. This is England's first tour to Pakistan in 17 years and the English outfit will want to make it a memorable one before they head into the T20 World Cup that will be played in Australia starting from October 16, 2022.
At the moment England is being led by all-rounder Moeen Ali in the absence of their regular skipper Jos Buttler. The visitors haven't fared that badly in the ongoing series as it still hangs in the balance with both these teams having two victories each in 4 T20I games. At the start of the series, things were quite unclear about Buttler's injury as he missed out on the first T20I. There were few murmurs about Buttler missing the entire series, but the English camp kept on denying it. The Rajasthan Royals stalwart Buttler had sustained a calf injury while he was playing in The Hundred. With the World Cup in sight and with less than 20 days to go for the marquee event, the English team management is not ready to risk his fitness before the all-important event.
While addressing the air around Buttler and his fitness issues, England's head coach Matthew Mott said:
With regards to our skipper Jos, he's still a while off. He is one of our most important players and at this point and considering the World Cup, we are not taking any risks with him. It was a reasonably significant injury that he had. He's champing at the bit for a game, but as of now we'll try and see how things go on from here.
With 4 matches played in Karachi, the action now moves to Lahore where the final three matches of the series will be played. Both England and Pakistan will want to better each other and clinch the series.
