Ben Stokes likely to miss England's second World Cup match

09 October, 2023

Stokes is nursing a sore left hip and did not feature in England’s crushing nine-wicket loss against New Zealand in the opening game of the ICC World Cup 2023.

New Zealand batters Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra scored dominant centuries to power their side to a thumping victory with 82 balls to spare while chasing 283.

England captain Jos Buttler hinted at Stokes’ possible absence from the game against Bangladesh during a press conference.

“It’s good to see him [Ben Stokes] back in the nets and building back towards full fitness, but he’s probably unlikely for tomorrow,” said Buttler.

Ben Stokes came out of ODI retirement in August to participate in England’s defence of the ongoing ICC Men’s World Cup as a specialist batter owing to his chronic knee injury.

He made a brilliant comeback to ODI cricket in the series against New Zealand prior to the ICC World Cup 2023. During the third match of the series, he broke the record for the highest score by an England men’s player in ODIs, as he scored 182 off 124 balls.

Following tomorrow’s game against Bangladesh, the defending champions England will face Afghanistan in their third match of the ICC World Cup 2023 on October 15 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.