All-rounder Ben Stokes is likely to miss England’s second match of the ICC World Cup 2023 against Bangladesh at the HCPA Stadium, Dharamshala on Tuesday.
Suffering from a chronic left-knee injury, Stokes came out of retirement from One Day Internationals (ODI) to serve his side as a specialist middle-order batter and he showed glimpses of what he is capable of after smashing 182 — England’s highest ODI score — against New Zealand just before the mega event.
Stokes, 32, missed England's World Cup opener against New Zealand where his side was handed a massive defeat that saw them going all the way down to the bottom of the points table of the tournament.
The outfield of the Dharamshala stadium, which has been the centre of attention since the Afghanistan vs Bangladesh match, will play a key factor in the 32-year-old’s absence as the defending champions don’t want to take any risk with Stokes.
The Christchurch-born all-rounder has batted twice in the nets since England’s arrival in Dharamshala but he remains a doubt for Tuesday’s encounter as his potential comeback could be against Afghanistan on October 15.
England’s captain Jos Buttler opened up on the 32-year-old’s recovery saying that he is progressing well but remains a doubt for Tuesday’s encounter.
"He progressing well… he is doing more and more each day and seems to be improving, so it is good signs," Buttler said.
"It's good to see him back in the nets and building back towards full fitness, but he's probably unlikely for tomorrow."
Earlier, England’s wicketkeeper batter Jonny Bairstow discussed the outfield condition and stated that his team will look to adopt a “smart” field plan to avoid injuries.
“There’s been a lot of chat about it. It’s just about being smart about it. The last thing you want is guys going off with knee injuries or something,” Bairstow said.
“It will be very difficult to hold someone back if they see a ball and they try to stop it — it’s a natural reaction to go for it. You might be a bit more clever about how you go about it — it might affect your angles and where you stand.”
It must be noted that Afghanistan’s key spinner Mujeeb ur Rehman escaped a knee injury during his side’s match against Bangladesh at the same venue.
The 22-year-old was running towards the boundary line and as he attempted a dive to stop the ball, his knee got stuck in the surface but luckily, the left-armer did not get injured.
