Eoin Morgan ruled out of T20 series against West Indies; Moeen Ali to lead

England have suffered a body blow, as their captain Eoin Morgan will miss the remainder of the T20 series against the West Indies due to a thigh injury. Moeen Ali, who captained the visitors in the third T20I, will lead in the final two games as well.

Morgan sat out Thursday's game after failing a fitness test, with vice-captain Ali stepping up to the role. The veteran will continue to be on the sidelines, as confirmed by the ECB. It was subsequently revealed that the 35-year old has a low-grade quadriceps injury on his right thigh.

The England Cricket Board (ECB) released a statement in this regard:

"Follow-up testing revealed he sustained a right thigh muscle injury which, whilst relatively minor, will prevent him from playing further games during the current tour."

Morgan hasn't been in the best of form, making 13 and 12 in the first two T20Is in Bridgetown, Barbados. West Indies beat England by nine wickets in the first game before the top-ranked T20I team sneaked a one-run win in the second to level the series.

The third T20 international on Thursday saw the West Indies reclaim the lead in the series with a 20-run victory. Rovman Powell's maiden T20I ton had set England a daunting target of 225 to chase in twenty overs. Tom Banton (73) and debutant Phil Salt (57)'s promising efforts went in vain. Romario Shepherd emerged as the pick of the bowlers for the West Indies, taking three wickets.

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"Development of our game is more important than a series win" - Eoin Morgan

England cricket team. (Credits: Getty)

Morgan previously said that he viewed the series as an opportunity to expand England's player pool ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. He spoke about fringe players getting opportunities to press their case in the absence of first-team regulars, saying:

"The whole tour is one where the development of our game is more important than a series win. We've gone through this process before, and identifying the level of intensit, and our performance is far more important than the result."

"A lot of talented guys will get opportunities throughout this series. which is very exciting, not only for the team, but for them as well. They don't get a lot of opportunity to go through a process like this so, for our long-term planning, as we strive to have deeper, stronger squads, it's very important," Morgan continued , as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.

Meanwhile, England have to regroup quickly ahead of the fourth T20I against the West Indies to take the series to a decider.