"England missed the nous of Ben Stokes to get them above par" - Nasser Hussain on nine-wicket loss in 2023 World Cup opener
Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes the defending champions desperately missed Ben Stokes in the 2023 World Cup opener against New Zealand. However, he feels the Three Lions have already got one bad performance out of the way in the tournament.
With Stokes sustaining a niggle, he missed the tournament opener in Ahmedabad as England suffered a nine-wicket drubbing. Harry Brook got the nod in place of the all-rounder, but the youngster fell for a 16-ball 25, hitting four boundaries and a six. England dragged themselves to 282, but the Kiwis needed only 36.2 overs to chase it down.
In his column for The Daily Mail, Hussain stated that England must play out of their skin moving forward.
"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," he said.
The 55-year-old admitted that it's rare for the current England white-ball side to get dominated as they did against New Zealand on Thursday, October 5.
"There are a lot of good teams in this tournament and if England are to get into the top four they cannot afford much more slip-ups. England were simply not at the races. It was one of those days when they were well below par and the opposition were excellent. It is rare for an England white-ball side to be outclassed these days but that was the case yesterday," he added.
Joe Root top-scoring with 77 was a massive plus, but Brook, Jonny Bairstow, and Jos Buttler not converting their starts derailed England's innings. With the ball, Sam Curran was the only Englishman to strike.
"What a find he has been" - Nasser Hussain on Rachin Ravindra
Nasser Hussain also heaped praise on Rachin Ravindra, who he feels created a massive impression on the opening day. The reputed commentator reflected that the knock was on another level as the ball pinged off his bat.
"Boy, what a find he has been. There has been a lot of talk about the superstars who might light up this World Cup but it was this youngster who made the biggest impression on opening day," he said.
"We saw Ravindra hitting four sixes in his 61 in a losing cause at the end of New Zealand’s one-day international against England at Lord’s last month but this, from a different position, was on another level. The sound the ball made off his bat and the shots he played were magnificent," he added.
Ravindra, promoted to No. 3, reached his century off 82 deliveries and shared an unbroken 273-run stand with Devon Conway.