Ben Stokes still unfit, likely to miss England's 2nd 2023 World Cup game
Star England all-rounder Ben Stokes is likely to remain sidelined for the defending champions' next 2023 World Cup game on Tuesday (October 10) against Bangladesh. The 32-year-old has a hip injury, forcing him to miss the tournament opener against New Zealand.
According to BBC Sport, Stokes underwent a gentle net session and some light running during training in Dharamshala. However, the seam-bowling all-rounder was in discomfort.
With the pitch in Dharamshala coming under fire from Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott after the game against Bangladesh, Bangladesh could factor that in their game plan.
England suffered a resounding nine-wicket loss to the Kiwis as Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra blazed away centuries to hunt down 283 in only 36.2 overs. Joe Root was the only England batter to make a half-century, top-scoring with 77.
"England missed the nous of Ben Stokes to get them above par" - Nasser Hussain
Following the loss, ex-England captain Nasser Hussain wrote in his Daily Mail column, warning England against any more missteps in the tournament:
"England missed the nous of Ben Stokes to get them above par, and they will just have to be better from now on. The one good thing is that perhaps they have got their bad performance out of the way early – if they did this in the semi-finals it would be all over.
"There are a lot of good teams in this tournament and if England are to get into the top four they cannot afford any more slip-ups."
England will be up against Bangladesh, who beat Afghanistan convincingly to open their campaign. Bangladesh's spinners dominated Afghanistan to bowl them out for 156 and chased it down with six wickets to spare, with Najmul Hossain Shanto top-scoring with 59*.
However, the defending champions will take confidence from beating the Tigers in an ODI series earlier this year in their backyard.