Jason Roy’s World Cup is in doubt after scans revealed he suffered a hamstring tear during England’s World Cup match with West Indies.
The England opener left the field during the eighth over of Friday’s match with tightness to his left hamstring. An MRI scan on Saturday confirmed a tear. He will remain with the squad but has officially been ruled out for England’s next two matches against Afghanistan (Tuesday) and Sri Lanka (Friday).
Bhuvneshwar on sidelines with hamstring injury for ‘maximum of three games’
Meanwhile, skipper Eoin Morgan is in much better shape: a back spasm in the 40th over of West Indies’ innings has settled down enough for him to still be in consideration for Afghanistan at Old Trafford, Manchester. Much depends on the next 24 hours but it is highly likely he will not be risked for the encounter.
For Roy, much will depend on the “grade” of the tear. Grade One tears are not so serious, but grades two and three – a partial and complete tear, respectively – are far more serious. The likes of Joe Denly, previously in the provisional 15-man World Cup squad and Dawid Malan will be keeping their phones close no doubt.
Root stars as England coast to World Cup win against West Indies
In the short-term, both Moeen Ali and James Vince will be preparing for action. Moeen is the likeliest beneficiary of Roy’s injury: two of his three ODI hundreds have come as an opening batsman and his off-spin would help cater to an Old Trafford pitch which was used on Sunday for India-Pakistan and exhibited a healthy degree of turn.
Vince, the Hampshire batsman, is also in with a shout to open but may be used in the middle order, or perhaps at number three, with Joe Root – a century as an opener against West Indies – shifting down to four to offer England a “Morgan-a-like” presence in the engine room.
