England's star player to be unavailable for the white-ball series against India, confirms Eoin Morgan

England is all set to host India for a bilateral series. Following a single Test match, the two will compete in a white-ball series, comprising three ODI's and three T20i. However, England's star all-rounder, Ben Stokes, will miss the limited-overs series.

As revealed by England's white-ball skipper, Eoin Morgan, Stokes will be unavailable for the team until the T20 World Cup later this year. He said that Stokes is currently focusing on his role as England's Test captain.

"Ben won’t play white-ball this summer. We just want him to go off and be himself as Test captain as it’s a huge responsibility. I don’t want Ben this summer, I want him in November. That’s when our race will be run," Eoin Morgan told Daily Mail in an interview.

Ben Stokes was recently appointed as the team's Test captain after Joe Root stepped down. Notably, England has won only one out of their last 17 Test matches.

Morgan also addressed the series against India. He said this will be an opportunity to determine the depth of their squad after some injuries. "The India T20s will be a great gauge of where we’re at but the rest of the summer will be a delve into the depth of what we have in county cricket considering the injuries we have with bowlers," Morgan said.

The skipper also dropped a hint on his retirement plans and named the captains that could lead the team in white-ball cricket. He suggested that Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, and Chris Jordan can be in contention for captaincy.

"I’m always looking at my future. I’m very honest about where the team need to go but if at any stage I haven’t got the drive or don’t think I’m contributing enough I’ll be upfront about it. The 50-over World Cup next year is a long way away so I can’t comment on that now. The goal is the T20 World Cup," he said.

"If you had asked me two years ago I would have said yes (to Buttler being the captain) but equally guys like Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan have been very strong leaders. I haven’t mentioned Ben Stokes because I think he should solely focus on his big job at hand, but we do have a number of candidates," he added.