Ben Stokes, a top player for England, has been sidelined with a hip injury, and the team’s captain, Jos Buttler, said on Wednesday that “it’s not the time to take risks” with Stokes’ status for the World Cup opener against New Zealand.
On Thursday, the Black Caps and the defending champions England will get things started at the 132,000-capacity stadium in Ahmedabad for the 45-day showcase competition that will include 10 countries.
“He (Stokes) is experiencing some little discomfort in his hip. Buttler told the reporters, “I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’ll be good news for us.”
“He is putting in a lot of work with the physios, and we should have more information once the guys show up for training today.” We will make the proper decision, which is that he will not play if we determine that he is not fit to play.
In addition to this, he said that “it is not the time to take major risks at the beginning of the tournament.” It’s going to be a really drawn-out competition.”
Stokes, who is 32 years old, was unable to bowl due to a knee issue that had been bothering him for a long time. As a result, he was chosen to participate in the World Cup as a specialist batter.
If Ben Stokes is unable to play, Harry Brook may get the call to play in his eighth one-day international since making his 50-over debut in January.
Buttler has nothing but respect for the flamboyant batsmen.
“It is common knowledge that he is an outstanding player. “The start of an international career that’s been outstanding,” Buttler said of the 24-year-old Brook, who plays both Twenty20 and Test cricket. “The start of an international career that’s been outstanding.”
Although he hasn’t played a lot of one-day international cricket, the one-day format is one that should be a good fit for him. It will provide him the opportunity to stay at bat for a long period and score a lot of runs, both of which are activities that he takes pleasure in.
The match on Thursday will be a replay of the 2019 final, which was played at Lord’s and was won by boundary countback after the scores were tied at the end of a super over.
The most recent one-day international series between these two teams was played in England in September, and England won it by a score of 3-1.
During that particular series, Stokes hit the highest score ever recorded by an England batsman in a one-day international. His 182 helped England to a rout of New Zealand at The Oval.
Buttler has said that the victory in the 2019 World Cup final, which was achieved under the leadership of Eoin Morgan, would not have any influence on Thursday.
“No, I don’t think so. Buttler said that four years ago was a very long time ago.
“It was a tremendous game versus New Zealand, and we’ve played some incredible matches against them in the past. They have a fantastic team dynamic. We are anticipating a tremendously challenging contest, and we are thrilled to play in the first game of the World Cup.
Buttler, who was the team’s captain when they won the Twenty20 World Cup last year, said that he does not feel any more pressure as the first England captain to defend their One-Day International crown.
Buttler said, “I think I’ve spoken quite a bit about not feeling like we’re defending anything,” referring to the fact that they are not defending anything.
“We’re pretty much in the same position as every other team right now,” the coach said. Our goal is to leave this competition as world champions. We are all beginning at the same spot, yet we have the same lofty goals and aspirations of making it to the very top.