"He's not Superman" - Mark Wood urges England against over-reliance on Ben Stokes after defeat in 2023 World Cup opener

England speedster Mark Wood believes they cannot keep relying on Ben Stokes to bail them out of tough situations. Wood's statement came as England succumbed to a nine-wicket loss in the 2023 World Cup opener to New Zealand.

Stokes missed the encounter with a niggle and England likely missed his batting expertise to get to a competitive score but could be back for the next game. With Harry Brook slotting in place of the all-rounder, the youngster showed brief flashes of brilliance before falling.

Speaking ahead of England's clash with Bangladesh on Tuesday (October 10), Wood asserted that Stokes is no superman and that the World Cup requires every player to stand up. The right-arm pacer revealed that Stokes still has strappings on his knee.

As quoted by BBC Sport, he said:

"I don't want to put too much pressure on him. He's not Superman. It's not all just about the messiah Stokesy coming back and him doing everything. He's obviously one of our best players, if not our best player, but all the lads have to stand up as well. He's got strapping round his leg, which is helping. He'll have to get in the nets and see if the strapping does its job and allows him to move how he wants."

Stokes reversed his ODI retirement ahead of the World Cup and struck a blazing 182 in the preceding four-game series against New Zealand. Hence, fans have massive expectations from him.

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"It's another chance for us to show how good a side we are" - Mark Wood

Mark Wood. (Image Credits: Twitter)

Mark Wood also asserted that he believes in every team member's willingness to keep the trophy with them and trusts England to bring their A-game moving forward.

The 33-year-old added, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:

"A great trait of the group is resilience and bouncing back, and calmness within the group. I trust every member in there: they've been through bad times and good times. [We'll use it] to prove that we want to keep this trophy, to prove people wrong and there'll be question marks now. But as a group, we believe in each other and it's another chance for us to show how good a side we are."

England, the defending champions, are likely to make one or two changes for the encounter against Bangladesh in Dharamshala.