England vs Pakistan: Philip Salt replaces injured Dawid Malan in the hosts' T20I squad

England huffed and puffed to the chase in the one-off ODI against Ireland in Dublin but their batting depth helped them again. The Eoin Morgan-led side now travel back home to host Pakistan for a one-off T20I and the five-match ODI series. But the home team has been jolted with an injury blow as Dawid Malan got injured while batting in the game against Ireland.

He sustained a groin injury after opening the innings along with James Vince and his struggled while running the between the wickets. Malan was seen playing his strokes rather than rotating the strike during his brief stay in the middle. The selectors now have decided to add Philip Salt to the T20I squad and he will replace Malan who will miss the game. The news was confirmed by the official Twitter handle of England Cricket.

Salt to make his debut?

Dawid Malan was a certainty in the playing XI due to his heroics while playing for England in the shortest format. But can Philip Salt make it into the team? He has a great chance to earn his T20I cap on Sunday and is the top-order batsman for his team Sussex.

Salt’s strike-rate of 151.50 in the shortest format in just 35 T20s must have prompted the selectors to try him out. He has amassed 706 runs in those many outings and has struck four half-centuries for his team. Even in the ongoing domestic One-Day Cup, Salt is doing decently having scored 216 runs at an average of 43.20 at a strike-rate of 114. He is looking in the best frame of mind at the moment and has the best chance to raise up the ranks on his debut itself.

Pakistan and England, after the one-off T20I, will lock horns in the five-match ODI series starting from May 8 at the Kennington Oval in London.

England’s updated T20I squad: Eoin Morgan (c), James Vince, Joe Root, Philip Salt, Ben Duckett, Joe Denly, Jofra Archer, David Willey, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes (wk), Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid.

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