Karachi: England coach Matthew Mott has said that he won't be taking any risks with injured skipper Jos Buttler so close to the start of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
Buttler is still battling the calf injury he picked up while playing domestic cricket in England and the star right-hander hasn't played any international cricket since he featured against South Africa in a T20I in Southampton at the end of July.
The 32-year-old has missed the opening four matches of England's ongoing seven-game T20I series against Pakistan and Mott said there were no guarantees the skipper would see any action over the final three games.
"With regards to Jos, he's still a while off," Mott said. "He's not a player we want to take a risk on at this stage, so close to a (T20) World Cup, and it was a reasonably significant injury that he had.
"He's champing at the bit for a game but we'll just try and see how we go. Maybe in the last game or two, he might be a chance."
Buttler's availability for the T20 World Cup will be crucial to England's fortunes, with the in-form opener finishing last year's event as the fourth leading run-scorer.
Buttler may not feature during England's remaining three matches against Pakistan in Karachi, Mott's side still has a further four warm-up games in Australia prior to their opening match of the T20 World Cup that their captain could potentially play in.
While England missed a golden chance to go ahead 3-1 in their series with Pakistan when they fell to a narrow three-run loss to the Asian side on Sunday, Mott said his team are continuing to face high-pressure games against quality opposition that will surely help them in the long run.
"We couldn't ask for better preparation than games like tonight (Sunday against Pakistan) where it's all on the line with a couple of overs to go and players are under pressure," he said.
"To play in high-pressure situations in front of a big crowd that was right into the game (is great). Yes, we would love to have won, but I think when you head into a World Cup, you want to play against good opposition in tough games and it's been every bit of that," he added. (UNI)