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Why Didn't England Name Ben Stokes & Chris Woakes For Warm-Up Game Against India?

image-ln5vajhuIND vs ENG warm-up game | Ben Stokes isn't featuring in ENG's team sheet (AP Photo)

Both India and England are kick-starting their World Cup 2023 campaign with a warm-up game against each other. The defending champions will be playing this warm-up game with just 13 players instead of 15 as they have left out Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes from today's game. 

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma opted to bat first as the conditions seemed to be hot and the team wanted to look after their bowlers, all Rohit could do was choose to bat first and let his bowlers bowl under the lights.

The Indian team have played a decent amount of cricket before coming into this game. However, the England team played just five ODIs against New Zealand. Rohit has mentioned that this game is just a formality for them and he will be using all of his 15 players to keep everyone fresh and not exhaust anyone in this warm-up game. 

While Jos Buttler mentioned that they have travelled a lot to get here and will be going easy today. England have named 13 players for this game leaving Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes out of this one. 


Here's a reason why Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes are not playing against India in the warm-up game:

Ben Stokes has been called out of retirement just for the sake of the World Cup, an why not? when he has been their best men in the 2019 World Cup and T20 World Cup 2022. Although, he will not be bowling, England were keen on playing him. 

With a 38-hour long flight and Guwahati being a bit hotter today, England management have decided to rest their premium players Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes. But unexpectedly, the rain has delayed the start of play.