England’s left-arm pacer Reece Topley has been ruled out of the ongoing World Cup in India due to a fracture on his index finger. “A replacement will be announced in due course,” said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in a statement.
The injury occurred when Topley attempted to stop the ball off his own bowling and ended up leaving the field frustrated in the game against South Africa in Mumbai on Saturday. Topley, however, returned later in the innings with taped up fingers to pick up two more wickets.
But scans have now revealed the extent of the injury which has ruled him out of the tournament. Jofra Archer, who is also on injury rehab and with the squad in India, has already been ruled out as a replacement by head coach Matthew Mott.
The injury is the latest in an unfortunate list for Topley, whose career has been riddled with a variety of blows. Ahead of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, Topley suffered a freak injury when he tripped over the advertisement hoarding while doing catching practice near the boundary, ending up hurting his ligament.
Prior to that, he had a string of stress fractures on the back which eventually led to surgery. His comeback from that was an arduous journey before he established himself as an integral part of England’s white-ball setup.
In the ongoing World Cup, Topley picked up 8 wickets and was England’s leading wicket-taker despite missing a game before this final setback.
