England skipper Eoin Morgan taking no risk with Ben Stokes' injury

Ben Stokes’ injury concerns dated back to the two games that he missed in the middle of the two-month long Indian Premier League with the Rising Pune Supergiant. The knee injury seemed to have popped up during the encounter against South Africa in the three-match ODI series.

England skipper Eoin Morgan is unsure of the extent of Stokes’ injury but says “a couple of days with ice pack will do good for the all-rounder.” Stokes, who was named as the Most Valuable Player in the IPL struggled to find his form in the South African innings before leaving the field off midway during the Proteas innings.

The all-rounder returned to the England line-up as the home side stepped up their Champions Trophy preparations by rounding up a 72-run victory over the Proteas at Headingley, but his fitness concerns threaten to cause a headache heading into the tournament.

Morgan is optimistic

“I don’t know, it’s in his knee, no significant swelling,” said Morgan. “He was able to bowl but I didn’t need him. A couple of days with ice on it will do him good.

“We want to win every game and if we can do that with all of our players fully fit, then we’ll put out our strongest team every time,” the England skipper added.

Morgan was exceptional during the home sides’ innings putting up an 117-run sixth wicket partnership alongside Moeen Ali in just 13.3 overs to hand the home side a decent total on the board. They got off to a flying start in the three-match series living up to the ‘Favourites’ tag before the Champions Trophy.

“Very pleasing, pretty good day at the office for us, having lost the toss and batted first,” he added.

“The partnerships we built gave us the best opportunity to get a par score and beyond.” concluded the left-handed batsman.

England looks very comfortable with the squad and is in prime form at the moment. It would be very difficult for the opponents to dislodge the home side as the favourites of the tournament. The Champions Trophy starts on the 1st of June.