Nasser Hussain on England's Cricket World Cup chances, Ben Stokes and Joe Root's form

England's squad is set and ready to roll, but it hasn't been a simple process to get this far, with plenty of scrutiny over the omission then inclusion of Harry Brook, the return of Ben Stokes from retirement and the form of Joe Root.

Hussain ran through some of the biggest storylines from an England perspective during an exclusive chat with RadioTimes.com.

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One of the hottest storylines of the summer revolved around England Test captain Stokes's return from ODI retirement in time for the big tournament, leading to Brook's initial omission from the first draft of the squad.

"Ben Stokes is in the best six white ball batters in England. Of course he is," begins Hussain, a firm advocate of taking Stokes to India.

"We saw what he did here against New Zealand, we've seen what he's done in the last two World Cup finals - 50 overs and 20 overs. It's a no-brainer for me.

"If I'm in the opposition with England at 20/2, I know I'm well happy if Stokes isn't selected or retired. He is a real threat. It's the right thing to do. He may end up just being a batter in all forms of cricket, he may be going in that direction.

"But I've often said when I've looked at the Test match side, the two best batters with the best technique are Joe Root and Ben Stokes, and it has been that way for a long time now."

Brook, who has enjoyed stellar form across multiple formats this summer, was handed a reprieve as he was included in the final squad at the expense of Jason Roy, who picked up an untimely injury.

When asked about the process to squeeze Brook into the squad and whether the right decision had ultimately been made, Hussain said: "Yes. I think sometimes you can overcomplicate things in a selection committee. I think sometimes you're just best writing down who your best six white ball players are – or if it's a Test match, your six best red ball batters.

"If you're asking me, is Brooks one of the best six white ball batters in the country? I would say yes. And for that reason, I would have taken him to the World Cup.

"Then you have to try and work out, 'Well, okay, have we got enough opening batters if someone wakes up with a dodgy hamstring or bad back, have we got someone to cover if Bairstow wakes up with a bad back? Have we got another opener?' It's not so simple, but sometimes you can over-complicate it.

"And also, you realise that you're going to be leaving out one of England's all-time great white ball players. When Stokes got that magnificent 170, 180 or whatever it was, and we put up on Sky the list of highest runs, Jason Roy's name featured a lot, so you're leaving out one of your all-time greats.

"But he'll know, Roy, as with any sport, if you get an injury at the wrong time, it just opens the door for someone else. You even look at Will Jacks, Phil Salt, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett – there's a lot of batting options who will feel disappointed."

Joe Root is another big-hitter heading to India for the Cricket World Cup, but will arrive in lukewarm form. Hussain remains unconcerned.

He said: "It's a 'phase'. I've been lucky enough to commentate and watch Joe bat for many years now since he made his debut, and I'm just amazed that I've never seen him have a 'phase'.

"He's just been so consistent that when he does have a month or so where he's not getting many runs, everyone says, 'What's happened to Joe Root?' It's just called being a professional sportsman. Sometimes you just go through a lean patch.

"Sometimes it's just the amount of cricket being played, and Joe just loves cricket so much. He went to the IPL, played in Pakistan, played in the Ashes, played in The Hundred, played in the 50 overs and then, because he was struggling for form, wanted to play against Ireland, and it's like, Joe, just have a week with the family, have a lie-in, put the bat away, because you'll be absolutely fine. Trust me. I've been there.

"Just have a week away from the game and you'll be absolutely fine. Joe Root is a world class player and arguably our greatest ever batter, and I've seen some of the greats in Graham Gooch and Kevin Pietersen and David Gower and people like this. Root, across all formats, is one of our best batters ever. He will be fine."

The Men’s Cricket World Cup is available on Sky Sports and NOW from 5th October.

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