England’s Ben Stokes arrives at the Ahmedabad airport ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 opening match between England and New Zealand, in Ahmedabad, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. | Photo Credit: PTI
England star Ben Stokes could miss the World Cup opener against New Zealand due to a hip injury, with captain Jos Buttler admitting Wednesday “it’s not the time to take risks”.
England take on New Zealand in Match No. 1 of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on Thursday, October 5. The match will take place at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
This will be a rematch of the ICC World Cup 2019 final that saw England clinch a thrilling win.
Eoin Morgan has passed on the baton to Jos Buttler who will be leading a brilliant side in the World Cup as defending champions, Zee news reports.
New Zealand will be missing their captain Kane Williamson in the opening game as he has still not recovered fully from the injury.
Tom Latham will be leading the Black Caps in Williamson's absence. It will largely be a battle between New Zealand's star-studded batting against England's aggressive batting unit that consists of Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Jos Buttler.
Who bowls the fastest ball among Lockie Ferguson and Mark Wood will another interesting talking about.
Harry Brook could be included in the team for his seventh ODI since his 50-over debut in January if Stokes misses out.
England squad: (possible) 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes/Harry Brook, 5 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Mark Wood, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley.
New Zealand squad: (possible) 1 Will Young, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Daryl Mitchell, 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 6 James Neesham, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Ish Sodhi, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult
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