England batsman ruled out of Sri Lanka series due to injury

England batsman Jonny Bairstow has been ruled out of the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka as he is still not recovered from the injury he suffered ahead of the fourth ODI. The right-hand batsman will not feature in the fifth ODI against Sri Lanka and will miss the T20 international as well.

Jonny Bairstow has been ruled out of the remainder of the white-ball leg of England's tour of Sri Lanka, and is a doubt for the Test series as well, after injuring his right ankle playing football.

READ ⬇https://t.co/gnzugIoec1 pic.twitter.com/AWNCKgapry

— ICC (@ICC) October 22, 2018

ECB confirms Bairstow’s unavailability

The England batsman injured his right ankle while playing football in the training session which took place ahead of the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka. This injury forced Bairstow to sit out of the fourth ODI and England had to rope in Alex Hales in the playing XI as his replacement.

In a statement released ahead of the fifth ODI , ECB has cleared that Bairstow won’t be featuring in the remaining white-ball leg of the Sri Lanka series. He will miss the fifth ODI as well as the only T20 international game while his availability for the Test series hasn’t been confirmed yet.

It's our final ODI in Sri Lanka tomorrow in Colombo! ?????????

Will we make it 4-0? pic.twitter.com/fZRNnKVQdV

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 22, 2018

Bairstow to undergo fitness test ahead of the Test series

In the statement, ECB has said that the right-hand batsman will be monitored and assessed on a daily basis by the England medical team in Sri Lanka and a further update will be given in due course on his fitness ahead of the three-match Test series starting next month.

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Bairstow played in the first three ODIs against Sri Lanka but didn’t make any significant impact. He scored 55 runs in three innings with 26 runs as his best score. In the absence or Bairstow, Alex Hales might get an extended run in the batting order.

England have the ODI series already in the pocket 

The England team might miss Bairstow in the T20 international but in the 5th ODI, his absence may not affect England much as they have already pocketed the five-match ODI series. The visitors have won three matches out of the four played so far which has made the fifth ODI a dead-rubber.