Ben Stokes has not ruled out the possibility of coming out of an international retirement day to play the World Cup in India next year.
The England Test captain, 31, retired from ODIs in July, citing pressure on his workload.
He starred in England’s 2019 World Cup final victory and did the same when they were crowned T20 champions in Australia earlier this month.
“Who knows how I might feel about a World Cup back then,” he said.
The next 50+ World Cup will take place in India in October and November 2023.
Stokes are currently leading England in their Test series in Pakistan. He was one of the players who missed training on Wednesday as illness affected the England side.
A decision on whether the first test will go ahead as planned will be made at 02:30 GMT Thursday (07:30 local time).
Speaking before he fell ill, Stokes revealed he was approached by cricket manager Rob Key following the success of the T20 over a World Cup return at 50.
“He pulled me aside and as soon as he said ‘World Cup at 50’ I walked away,” Stokes said.
“Who knows? Right now, being here, I’m just focusing on this series.
“Going to a World Cup is an incredible thing to do, to represent your country. But at the moment, I’m not even thinking about it.”
When Stokes retired from ODIs over the summer at home, he said it should serve as a warning to authorities about how many multi-format cricket internationals are expected to play.
“There’s too much cricket for people to play in all three formats now,” he said in July.
“We’re not cars, you can’t just fill us up and we’ll go out there and be ready to fill up again.”
At the time, he also rejected the suggestion that he would return to play at the World Cup.
“It wouldn’t be fair for someone who has this opportunity with me not to play this format now to all of a sudden say, ‘Yeah, I’ll be back,'” he said.
If Stokes misses the World Cup, his schedule in 2023 would be packed at the start of the year.
England will play two Tests in New Zealand in February and then they could play in the Indian Premier League in the spring.
All of England’s home Tests, including the Ashes, are complete by the end of July and their next series, in India, won’t take place until early 2024.
