England are unlikely to take a risk on Stokes at the start of a seven-week tournament, captain Jos Buttler said on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old Test captain came out of retirement to defend England’s 50-over world title.

“This is not the time to take big risks,” Buttler said.

It’s going to be a long tournament, so maybe you take more risks with people’s injuries toward the end.”

Harry Brook is the obvious replacement for Stokes if he is not fit. Brook was only called up as a late replacement for Jason Roy.

A day before the tournament curtain-raiser, England trained at the 130,000-seat Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

In the warm-ups and fielding drills, Stokes stepped out for 30 minutes to watch his teammates.

Stokes instead spent time in the gym while Brook played net.

After sitting out Monday’s warm-up match against Bangladesh, Stokes hasn’t played since hitting 182 in the third one-day international against New Zealand on 13 September.

Buttler said he has a slight hip niggle.

“We’ll make the right decision. If he’s not fit to play, he’s not fit to play. If he is, we can decide.”