ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Ben Stokes gets injured ahead of the tournament opener between ENG vs NZ

Ben Stokes came out of ODI retirement for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has suffered an injury ahead of their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 opening match against New Zealand. The two sides will clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5, 2023, in the first match of the tournament.

The two sides had played in the 2019 World Cup final at Lord’s widely considered to be the greatest final ever played. The match and the subsequent super over ended in a tie and England were declared victors on the basis of the boundary count in a controversial decision.

This time, New Zealand will be without captain Kane Williamson and Tim Southee as Tom Latham, the stand-in captain unveiled that Williamson is still nursing his surgically repaired knee. On the other hand, Tim Southee is yet to fully recover from his thumb injury. The pacer had suffered a broken right thumb during an England ODI and underwent surgery.

“Fingers crossed”- Jos Buttler reveals Ben Stokes suffering hip injury

On the other hand, in the England camp, captain Jos Buttler revealed concerning news about ace all-rounder Ben Stokes. Stokes is already managing a bad knee and is expected to play as a pure batter in the World Cup 2023.

On top of that, Buttler revealed that Stokes has suffered a hip injury and it remains to be seen whether he is fit enough for the World Cup 2023 opener against New Zealand.

“He's got a slight niggle with his hip. Fingers crossed that it'll be good news for us. He's working hard with the physios and we'll know more when the guys arrive for training today. We'll make the right call: if he's not fit to play, he's not fit to play,” Buttler said at the press conference and was quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

If England misses Ben Stokes for the tournament opener, they have a variety of options to choose from.

England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.