Stokes doubtful for World Cup opener with hip injury

AHMEDABAD: England star Ben Stokes could miss the World Cup opener against New Zealand due to a hip injury with captain Jos Buttler admitting on Wednesday "it´s not the time to take risks".

Defending champions England and the Black Caps will begin the 10-nation, 45-day showpiece tournament at Ahmedabad´s 132,000-capacity stadium on Thursday. "He (Stokes) has got a slight niggle in his hip. Fingers crossed that it´ll be good news for us," Buttler told reporters.

"He is working hard with the physios and we´ll know more when the guys arrive for training today. We´ll make the right call: if he´s not fit to play, he´s not fit to play. He added: "It´s not the time to take big risks at the start of the tournament. It´s going to be a long tournament."

The 32-year-old Stokes was selected for the World Cup as a specialist batsman after a long-standing knee injury ruled out his role as a bowler. Harry Brook could be included in the team for his seventh ODI since his 50-over debut in January if Stokes misses out.

Buttler praised the swashbuckling batsman. "We all know what a fantastic player he is. The start of an international career that´s been outstanding - in T20 cricket and the Test format," Buttler said of the 24-year-old Brook.

"He´s not played loads of ODI cricket, but it´s a format that should suit him perfectly. It will allow him to bat for a long time and make big runs and that´s something he enjoys doing." Thursday´s game will be a rematch of the 2019 final at Lord´s which was decided on boundary countback after the scores were level after a super over.

England won the latest ODI series between the two sides at home 3-1 in September. It was in that series that Stokes struck the highest score by an England batsman in a one-day international, his 182 setting up a thrashing of New Zealand at The Oval.

Buttler said the 2019 World Cup final win -- under Eoin Morgan -- will not have a bearing on Thursday. "No, I don´t. Four years ago is a long time," said Buttler. "It was a fantastic match with New Zealand and we´ve had some fantastic games against them. They´re an excellent team. We expect a really tough match and we´re excited for the first match of the World Cup."

Buttler, who led the team to a T20 World Cup title last year, said there is no added pressure of being the first England captain to defend their ODI title. "I think I´ve spoken quite a bit about not feeling like we´re defending anything," said Buttler.

TODAY’S FIXTURE

England vs New Zealand

1:30 pm PST