England include Ben Stokes for the ODI series against New Zealand

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced the ODI squad for the five-match series against New Zealand. They annihilated Australia by 4-1 down under in front of their home crowd and displayed some amazing skills during the recently concluded series. Eoin Morgan led side have all the bases covered and is being touted as the one of the best limited-overs outfit. However, they have included the much-debated all-rounder Ben Stokes who has ruled the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent times.

The ODI series is all set to commence on February 25 in Hamilton. Stokes, however, was earlier supposed to make his comeback on February 13 when England will play the Kiwis in a T20 International in Wellington. But he is due to appear before the Bristol Magistrates’ court on the same day for the hearing over the case of his alleged involvement in the brawl outside the bar in September. He has been charged with affray in the case and will get a chance to keep his case forward on the day of the hearing.

Other changes in the squad

The selectors have dropped Jake Ball who featured only in the solitary match against Australia along with Dawid Malan who was roped in as cover for Stokes who was earlier included in the squad. The remaining composition of the team is similar as they aim to achieve greater heights in the 50-overs format. The chairman of selectors James Whitaker was confident of the team doing well and they are well on the road to be successful in the upcoming 2019 World Cup at home.

“Our ODI side has made excellent progress over the last three years and it’s encouraging to see with the 2019 World Cup on the horizon,” he said in the statement released by ECB. The five-match ODI series will conclude on March 10 after which the two teams will be involved in the Test series comprising of two matches.

Squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.