England’s star cricketer, Ben Stokes, a formidable adversary for New Zealand since their historic clash at Lord’s in 2019, is facing uncertainty ahead of the ODI World Cup opener between the two teams in Ahmedabad.
Stokes, who played a pivotal role in England’s victory with his unbeaten 84 in the final, has been a thorn in New Zealand’s side. His recent spectacular innings, including a remarkable 182 against the Black Caps at The Oval last month, still lingers in their memory.
However, a hip concern has cast doubts over Stokes’ availability for the crucial encounter. England’s captain, Jos Buttler, expressed optimism, mentioning that Stokes is diligently working with the physios in hopes of a swift recovery.
“Ben has got a slight sort of niggle with his hip, but fingers crossed that that’ll be good news for us. He’s working hard with the physios,” captain Jos Buttler said on the eve of the tournament opener.
Should Stokes be unavailable on Thursday, Harry Brook might step in to bat at No.4 for England. While Brook’s ODI performance hasn’t been exceptional, tallying only 123 runs in six matches, England remains hopeful that he can replicate his success from Test and T20 formats in the 50-over format as well.
“We all know what a fantastic player he (Brook) is,” Buttler said. “He’s at the start of an international career that has been outstanding in T20 cricket and in the Test format. He hasn’t played loads of ODI cricket, but it’s a format that should suit him perfectly. It’ll allow him to bat for a long time and make big runs, and that’s something he enjoys doing. He’s got all the shots.”
