England's talismanic all-rounder, Ben Stokes will in most likelihood won't feature for the three lions on Tuesday against Bangladesh.
Injury has been a major concern for many teams in this world cup which has caused the teams to loose their important players. Earlier, South Africa came without its strike bowler Anrich Nortje. Likewise, Pakistan is also without the service of Naseem Shaha. For the black caps, they are without their captain and main bowler Kane Williamson and Tim Southee. While the Aussies are without Travis Head, Ashton Agar. Likewise, England is also suffering with the absence of Ben Stokes. England’s match-winning all-rounder will in most likelihood won’t feature for the three lions. The 32-year-old is continuing to nurse his sore hip and will look to recover before the much-awaited clash against India. England captain Jos Buttler said Stokes was ‘probably unlikely’ for the Bangladesh game.
Stokes came out of ODI retirement to make himself available as a specialist batter for the World Cup. This came in spite of his chronic left-knee injury. But he missed their heavy defeat to New Zealand in Ahmedabad last week. Heading into the World Cup, Stokes has not played for England since his highest score of 182 in ODI against New Zealand. However, nearly a month has passed to that fantastic knock. He has batted in the nets twice since England arrived in Dharamsala. According to physios Stokes was moving much more freely when he faced spinners on Monday morning than he did when batting against sidearm throws on Sunday afternoon. But he is a major doubt for Tuesday’s game. However, England’s fixture against Afghanistan in Delhi on Sunday could be a potential comeback.
In the absence of Stokes, Harry Brook will be slotted in at no. 4. Brook scored 25 off 15 balls before holing out to deep midwicket as he attempted to hit Rachin Ravindra for a fourth successive boundary. Naturally, against a spin-heavy team like Bangladesh, Brook has to be specially careful against the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan. However, England captain, Jos Butler will definitely hope that Stokes is available for the later part of the tournament where there are important matches against India, Australia and South Africa.
England will most likely not tinker with their batting lineup. However, they would like to change the bowling lineup where Mark Wood looked lacklustre and leaked away runs at an economy of 11.00. Added to that, Tuesday’s match will be played on a fresh pitch. Therefore, the pacers will definitely come in handy. Naturally, Reece Topley could be slotted in. Now the only question remains is whether England will slot in Topley for Wood or Moeen or go with the same lineup.
England XI: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali/Reece Topley, Jos Buttler (c)/(wk), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood/Reece Topley
Get the latest from Sportslumo.com by following us on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
Rishabh Pant's explosive last-over blitz ignites IPL 2024 amid T20 World Cup comeback talks
Follow Us
