The Telegraph reported on Monday that Stokes has indicated to England that he is willing to reverse his ODI retirement – which he announced last July – in order to help them defend their 50-over title in October-November, and he is now expected to be named among their provisional squad.
England’s selectors meet on Tuesday and will select squads for upcoming T20I and ODI series against New Zealand, and an ODI series against Ireland. They hope to be close to full strength during the New Zealand ODIs, but will use the other series as an opportunity to test their depth. The ECB plan to name squads for the bilateral series on Wednesday morning.
They may also announce their World Cup squad alongside it given the ICC requires teams to select a provisional squad by September 5 and to finalise their squads by September 28, leaving teams scope to make late changes. While England’s final squad will consist of 15 players, along with three travelling reserves, they may follow Australia’s lead in naming an initial 18-man group which they then trim down to 15 names closer to the start of the tournament.
Stokes has struggled with a chronic left-knee injury and seems unlikely to be relied upon as a bowler in India, but even a part-time role with the ball would add further flexibility to a versatile squad that is likely to include several other allrounders in Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo