Jos Buttler will lead the England cricket one-day team to tour Bangladesh, in the event of regular captain Eoin Morgan deciding to pull out of the tour starting on September 30.
The English one-day team vice-captain Buttler led England only once before, in a Twenty20 international against Pakistan last winter, but steps in to fill the void left by Morgan.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had been hoping to change his mind and Andrew Strauss, the team director, has given him until Sunday night to confirm his availability before the selectors meet next week to pick the squad, according to Telegraph Sport.
Only a late change of heart from Morgan will prevent Buttler from taking charge but England do not expect their one-day captain to reverse his decision.
But England also have to make a contingency plan with Buttler given his chance to impress as captain in the three-match 50-over series that starts on Oct 7.
Morgan spoke to his fellow players about his Bangladesh decision before the third one-day international against Pakistan at Trent Bridge, the night they smashed records with the score of 444/3.
He has since met with ECB Director Andrew Strauss, remains skeptical about the security promises made by the Bangladesh authorities.
Alex Hales remains the only other player likely to join Morgan in pulling out of the trip.
However, Morgan has opened up on Bangladesh security fears, indicating two previous incidents on security scares in the sub-continent that made him wary of ever again jeopardising his personal safety, as he outlined why he remains deeply concerned about touring Bangladesh.
Morgan told AFP that his thinking had been influenced by a bomb exploding at a 2010 Indian Premier League (IPL) match and the violent background to a brief spell in the 2013/14 Dhaka Premier Division (DPL).
“In 2010 we played an IPL game in Bangalore and a bomb went off in the ground. We immediately left for the airport. So that was an instance. Another one was (in) Bangladesh playing domestic cricket during political elections when things were incredibly violent,” he said.
Besides 3 ODIs, the English team will also play a two-match Test series starting on October 20.
The uncertainty around the Test and ODI series rose centering security concerns, in the wake of a terror attack in Dhaka on July 1.
