With England and New Zealand scheduled to play in the World Cup opening match, preparations have been disrupted by the unavailability of key players on both sides.
Key Players to miss ENG vs NZ
The World Cup 2023 is set to begin on October 5 where defending champions England and New Zealand will be facing each other at Narendra Modi Stadium. The Opening match of the World Cup 2023 will be a replica of the World Cup 2019 finals where England beat New Zealand and had their first World Cup title.
On this occasion, both side captains have revealed the names of the key players to be sidelined in the opening match.
- Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
- Tim Southee (New Zealand)
- Ben Stokes (England)
While speaking in the pre-match conference in Ahmedabad, New Zealand captain Tom Latham confirmed the absence of Kane Williamson and Tim Southee couldn’t make it up for the playing 11.
“Yeah I guess any team that doesn’t have Kane in it is obviously…we’d certainly be better off having him,” said Latham. “But I think from our point of view for him to be here, to be at the World Cup is a testament to, I think the work that he’s put on over the last four to five months to be where he is.”
Kane Williamson will be rested in the match against England due to the surgery he underwent for a torn ACL in April. Latham hoped that Williamson’s appearance in the Warmup games was a positive development.
“So for him it’s a day-by-day process in terms of where his recovery is at. “He’s obviously played a little bit of a part of the last two warm-up games. You know he’s been batting beautifully which is great to see and he was out in the field a couple of days ago so he’s progressing really nicely and fingers crossed he’s on the park sooner rather than later.”
He also spoke about the pacer Tim Southee’s injury sustained during the ODI match against England on September 15. He broke and dislocated his right thumb and underwent a surgery few weeks ago.
“He (Southee) is unavailable for selection just in terms of what happened to his thumb a couple of weeks ago, but he’s recovering nicely,” Latham said.
“I think he’s nearly two weeks post-surgery so fingers crossed he can keep recovering. It’s a bit of a day-by-day process with him in terms of what that looks like too. But fingers crossed he’ll be available sooner rather than later as well,” he concluded.
On the other hand, England’s side will be also concerned about the Ben Stokes hip niggle he sustained during the practice session. With the team hoping for his recovery, Jos Buttler said that the player will be missing the match against Kiwis.
“We’ve been nursing a few guys over the last month or so. Hopefully we’ll have a clean bill of health to pick from. He (Stokes) got a slight sort of niggle with his hip, but fingers crossed that that’ll be good news for us. He’s working hard with the physios and we’ll know more when the guys arrive for training today,” Buttler said.
“Whether he (Stokes) is not fit to play, he’s not fit to play. If he is, then we can make that decision. But it’s not a time to take big risks on someone at the start of the tournament. Near the end, maybe do take more of a risk with people’s injuries. But, yeah, it’s going to be a long tournament,” concluded Jos Buttler.
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