World Cup 2023: Ben Stokes unlikely to play in England vs New Zealand tournament opener, reason revealed

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England could be without Ben Stokes in their opening match of the World Cup 2023 on Thursday, October 5. Stokes recently came out of his ODI retirement to feature in the ICC marquee event which begins with the defending champions England taking on New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

An official call has not yet been made but chances of Ben Stokes missing the game are high. Captain Jos Buttler revealed that is facing a niggle issue, before adding that the team would not want to risk any player at the beginning of the tournament.

"He's got a slight niggle with his hip. Fingers crossed that it will be good news for us," Buttler told reporters at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday.

"He's working hard with the physios and we'll know more when the guys arrive for training (later) today."

"We'll make the right call here - if he's not fit to play, he's not fit to play. It's not the time to take big risk on someone at the start of the tournament," Buttler added.

Stokes has been picked in the England squad as a specialist batter. The star cricketer has been nursing a recurring knee injury which stopped him from bowling full-throttle even during the Ashes 2023.

Harry Brook is likely to be named into the England playing eleven if Stokes is ruled unfit for the match. Brook was part of England's T20 World Cup-winning team last year and could very well make his ODI World Cup debut on the opening day of the 13th edition.

"Harry, we all know, what a fantastic player he is. The start of his international career has been outstanding in T20 cricket and in the test format. He has not played loads of ODI cricket but it's a format that should suit him perfectly," Buttler said ahead of the World Cup 2023 opener.

New Zealand without Williamson and Southee

The Kiwis will also be without two of their most experienced campaigners. Kane Willaimson batted in both the warm-up matches but his comeback in international has been delayed as a precautioner measure.

Senior pacer Tim Southee is also yet to to recovery fully from his fractured thumb injury. Tom Latham would be leading the side in Williamson's absence.

“Yeah, so obviously no Kane and no Tim as well. He’s [Southee] unavailable for selection just in terms of what happened to his thumb a couple of weeks ago, but he’s recovering nicely. I think he’s nearly two weeks post-surgery so fingers crossed he can keep recovering. It’s a bit of a day-by-day process with him in terms of what that looks like too. But fingers crossed he’ll be available sooner rather than later as well," Tom Latham said.