T20 World Cup 2022: Jos Buttler and his men faced a massive setback right before the T20 World Cup. Their premier speedster, Reece Topley has been ruled out of the multi-nation cricketing event owing to an ankle injury. The 28-year-old left-armer who burst onto the international stage owing to a stellar performance against India in July rolled his left ankle during a fielding drill in Brisbane on Monday ahead of England's final warm-up match against Pakistan.
In a sudden turn of events, England have named Tymal Mills as Topley's replacement. Surprisingly, Mills hasn't played any international cricket since August as he was nursing a toe injury. The magnitude of Topley's injury remains unclear but he was quickly taken for scans which revealed that the pacer was required to sit out for the entire World Cup. The International Cricket Council on Wednesday released a statement that says "England's Tymal Mills who is already in Australia comes in for Reece Topley who has an injured left ankle". The cut-off time for injury replacements as conveyed by the ICC was October 15, 2022. This replacement has required the approval of the Event Technical Committee.
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Topley's injury has come in as a major setback for England as he has been their leading wicket-taker in T20 Internationals in 2022. With 17 wickets in 16 games at an average of 28, he certainly was an integral member of their squad. Topley's biggest asset is that he can open and close the innings with the ball in his hand for his team. In the previous edition of the World Cup in UAE Mills played four matches and picked up seven wickets before his tournament was ended by a thigh injury.
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England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Tymal Mills, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Alex Hales. Standby Players: Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson
