[Watch] England players each choose their retired cricketer to play with for the 2023 World Cup
Ahead of the 2023 World Cup opener, several England players picked one former countryman at the peak of their powers to play for the side in the tournament in a hypothetical question.
While pacer Mark Wood cheekily picked all-rounder Ben Stokes, who has reversed his ODI retirement to return to the squad for the World Cup, several others went with belligerent batter Kevin Pietersen.
Chris Woakes made a left-field selection in medium-pacer Liam Plunkett, who played a vital role in the middle overs for England in their 2019 World Cup triumph.
Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone picked Pietersen, while Moeen Ali chose Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff as the retired players they wished to be back in the side.
Here is a video of the England players making their pick shared by ICC on their Instagram handle:
Pietersen was among the most accomplished English batters, with almost 14,000 runs across formats, including 32 centuries. He was also the Player of the Tournament in England's first-ever World Cup win back in the T20 World Cup in 2010.
Meanwhile, Andrew Flintoff was one of the best all-rounders of his generation, with over 7,000 runs and 400 wickets in his illustrious international career.
Although not as celebrated as the above duo, Plunkett was no mug with the ball, picking up over 200 wickets in his international career, including a match-winning 3/42 in the 2019 World Cup final against New Zealand.
England begin their World Cup title defense against New Zealand
Cut to the present as England tries to become only the third team after West Indies (1975,1979) and Australia (1999, 2003,2007) to win back-to-back World Cups.
The side finally broke their ODI World Cup trophy jinx in the 2019 edition, defeating New Zealand in a super-over thriller at Lord's. The two sides will face off again in the mouth-watering 2023 World Cup opener in Ahmedabad on Thursday, October 5.
While England may be without their talisman Ben Stokes, the Black Caps will likely miss regular captain Kane Williamson and veteran pacer Tim Southee.
Pitted among the heavy favorites to win the tournament along with India and Australia, the Jos Buttler-led side will travel around the country during their nine league stage games. England will play a game each at Ahmedabad, Dharamsala, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Lucknow, Pune and Kolkatta.
The two most anticipated England games against India and Australia will be in Lucknow and Ahmedabad on October 29 and November 4, respectively.