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Ben Duckett is fit and cleared for England’s upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 campaign.
Ben Duckett is fit and will be taking part in England’s Champions Trophy 2025 campaign. (Image: Sportzpics)
England has received a massive boost ahead of their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign as their star opening batter, Ben Duckett has been deemed fit and will be available for the upcoming tournament that is set to begin on February 19 (Wednesday).
The left-handed batter had picked up an injury to his left groin whilst fielding during the third ODI against India. England went on to lose the game by 142 runs in Ahmedabad and thereby suffered a 3-0 series sweep as well.
“Scans on a left groin injury have confirmed that England men’s batter Ben Duckett is fit and available for the ICC Champions Trophy,” said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in a statement on Saturday.
Duckett’s return will be a massive positive as they recently were forced to make a change with Tom Banton replacing the injured all-rounder, Jacob Bethell. The latter suffered a left hamstring injury during the 50-over series against India.
They had additional injury concerns with the likes of Jofra Archer having a cut on his bowling hand, Brydon Carse picking up a niggle on his tie, all-rounder Jamie Overton with a hamstring niggle and the wicketkeeper Jamie Smith having some trouble on his calf. Despite the injuries, Head Coach, Brendon McCullum remains confident that the quartet will recover in time for the ICC tournament.
England open their group-stage campaign by taking on arch-rivals, Australia on February 22 (Saturday) in Lahore followed by Afghanistan on February 26 (Wednesday) and South Africa on March 1 (Saturday) respectively.
Duckett looked in good touch for the most part. He finished as England’s highest run-scorer in the recently concluded ODI series with 131 runs at an average of 43.67. While he gave his side decent stars, he struggled to convert it to a big knock which could be a concern that Buttler and Co would look to rectify coming into the tournament.
Should England have a good shot at going all the way for the title, Duckett could have a big role to play at the top of the order.
England’s squad for Champions Trophy: Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood