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England cricketer Moeen Ali has allayed concerns about Liam Livingstone's fitness after the all-rounder suffered a bruising to his left hand while taking a catch in a warm-up game against India on Monday here.
Half-centuries by Ishan Kishan (70) and KL Rahul (51) helped India beat England by seven wickets in the ICC T20 World Cup warm-up game but Livingstone, who struck a quick-fire 30 and then took the key wicket of Virat Kohli, got injured in the 16th over of the Indian chase when he dropped Kishan in the deep and recoiled in pain. The 28-year-old all-rounder immediately left the field and was replaced by Sam Billings. However, Moeen Ali allayed any injury concerns, saying, "I think he's alright, I don't know a lot about it but he seemed to be fine. I think it's just bruising," said Moeen. "He was hit on the back of the hand. Obviously it was a little scare at the time, but he said he was fine so hopefully it's good," Moeen told The Independent. "He's a brilliant player; he's been playing really well over the last couple of years so I hope he can carry that form into the World Cup. I feel like it's gonna be a big stage for him," added Moeen, who was a part of the Chennai Super Kings side that lifted its fourth Indian Premier League trophy recently defeating Kolkata Knight Riders. England will play another warm-up game, against New Zealand on Wednesday (October 20), and while Livingstone could be kept out of the playing XI, he will most likely play the 'Super 12' opener against the West Indies on October 23. Moeen said he will be up for selection for the second warm-up game against New Zealand despite a gruelling IPL season with CSK. "Eoin (Morgan) asked me if I was happy to play, if I wanted to play this game because we just played the other day (in the IPL), but I wanted to keep going. I feel like I'm playing well so I wanted to carry on. Eoin will come back in next (warm-up) game (who drops out) is a decision they're going to have to make. "With the whole line-up it depends on the combination that Morgs and the coaching staff want to go with. We're just trying to get into the best nick we can and make ourselves ready for the first game," added Moeen. --IANS akm/ ( 422 Words) 2021-10-19-12:08:05 (IANS)
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