Ahmed replaces Carse in England's Champions Trophy squad

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England bowler Brydon Carse has been ruled out of the rest of the Champions Trophy and will be replaced in the squad by leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed.

Carse, 29, has been struggling with a blister on a toe on his left foot and the issue reoccurred in Saturday's defeat by Australia.

He had trouble with the injury and returned figures of 1-69 from seven overs.

Ahmed is expected to arrive in Pakistan on Wednesday, the day of England's next match against Afghanistan, meaning that Jamie Overton would be the most like-for-like replacement for Carse.

Gus Atkinson and Saqib Mahmood are the other seam options in the squad while Ahmed, 20, gives England a second frontline spin option, in addition to Adil Rashid, for Saturday's match against South Africa.

England pace trio of Carse, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood took 3-226 across 26.3 overs against Australia.

Ahmed has taken 10 wickets in six one-day internationals at an average of 23.3, and took a five-wicket haul on his Test debut in Pakistan in 2022 as England's youngest men's debutant.

After losing their opener, England will likely need to win both their remaining games to reach the semi-finals.

If England do manage to navigate a way out of Group B they would most likely face India in Dubai, where spin has played a key role.

Carse was picked for the Champions Trophy despite missing the final two ODIs of England's tour of India because of the toe issue this month.

The injury required stitches, which were removed shortly before the tournament began.

Carse has impressed for England this winter after making his Test debut against Pakistan in October.

He has a contract worth £100,000 to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which begins next month.

Afghanistan are also winless in Group B after losing to South Africa in their opening game. Whichever side loses will likely be out of the tournament.

There has been debate around whether England should boycott the match because of the Taliban's assault on women's rights in the country.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have called for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to do more but confirmed earlier this month the match will go ahead.

Root reaffirmed their view that boycotting would not have a "positive impact".

"Clearly there's things over there that are hard to hear and read up on but cricket is such a source of joy for so many people," Root said.

"For a number of people within Afghanistan, I think it's an opportunity to celebrate - cricket gives them hope, gives them joy. Hopefully the two teams can do that in this next fixture."

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