Joe Root has seen “good indicators” from Ben Stokes as England’s star allrounder steps up his restoration from harm, but England’s World Cup conflict towards Afghanistan might nonetheless come too quickly.
Stokes reversed his ODI retirement to participate in England’s trophy defence however suffered a hip drawback on the eve of the match and watched the primary two video games from the sidelines.
He has been increase his workloads regularly and accomplished working and fielding drills at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on the eve of the Afghanistan match on Saturday evening earlier than a prolonged internet session beneath lights.
The 32-year-old is clearly straining to get again into the motion on Sunday, however his motion appeared to restricted on the crease and he didn’t look solely comfy, regardless of doling out some highly effective blows to batting coach Marcus Trescothick’s throw downs.
The temptation to get him again within the aspect is clear however, with a crunch conflict towards in-form South Africa on the horizon subsequent week, England might err in the direction of a cautious method.
The worst case state of affairs would see him irritate the issue towards the unfancied Afghans and set his restoration even additional again.
“Ben appears to be getting higher daily, he is skilled very well, he is had a bat and appears to be bettering,” stated Root.
“They’re all good indicators. As everyone knows, any staff with Ben in it’s a lot stronger, however he is obtained to be match to play. We’ll see whether or not that is the case for tomorrow.”
Afghanistan could also be backside of the World Cup standings after dropping their first two video games, however they nonetheless have the flexibility to trigger an upset, their English coach Jonathan Trott says.
Afghanistan misplaced their match opener to Bangladesh in a low-scoring encounter earlier than hosts India registered a snug eight-wicket victory.
Afghanistan have misplaced 16 of their 17 World Cup matches however Trott stated on Saturday: “I feel this aspect’s obtained the flexibility to upset any aspect. We have been so shut in earlier matches, it is nearly getting over the road and ensuring that we do.
“We’ll have a possibility tomorrow to place strain on England and we have to verify we try this.”
