T20 World Cup 2021: Liam Livingstone in doubt to play England's opening match due to finger injury

England all-rounder Liam Livingstone is in doubt to play the team’s opening match of the T20 World Cup. The 27-year-old suffered a finger injury in the warmup match against India. As soon he put a catch down of Ishan Kishan while fielding in the mid-wicket region, he left off with the physio to address his little finger on the left hand.

His situation will be monitored during the next 24 hours, and a call will be taken accordingly whether he is fit or not for the side’s opening match against West Indies on Saturday (October 23). The all-rounder had a good performance with both bat and ball as he contributed 30 runs and managed to also the wicket of skipper Virat Kohli for 11 runs. Although England lost the match, Livingstone gave a good account of himself.

The hard-hitting batter has been in good form lately. He scored England’s fastest T20I ton against Pakistan and was also named the MVP of the season during the inaugural edition of the Hundred. It is due to these terrific performances that the selectors included him for the showpiece event. Now, with this untimely blow, it remains to be seen if Livingstone returns in time to take the field against West Indies.

India beat England by seven wickets in the warmup game

Speaking about the match, India started their campaign with a win in the warmup game. It was a good victory for the team considering they had rested few players and tried some new combinations which paid off. For starters, Ravi Ashwin played the game and was India’s most economical bowler conceding just 5.8 runs per over.

Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up three wickets. England batted well and posted a huge total of 188 on account of some handy contributions from Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali, who scored 49 and 43 respectively.

In reply, India started things off with a bang as their openers Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul formed a crucial 82-run stand, which laid the platform for a splendid victory. The southpaw scored an enterprising 70, and Rahul scored a classy 51 off just 24 balls.