Harry Brook could still be part of England's World Cup title defense despite failing to find a place in the original 15-member squad for the 50-overs cricket showpiece event in India later this year, skipper Jos Buttler said.

England made a huge call to drop Harry Brook from their provisional World Cup squad as they picked the talismanic Ben Stokes ahead of him. Stokes, who is England's red-ball captain, retired from ODI cricket to prolong his career in the two other formats of the game. However, earlier this month, he returned to England's ODI setup as the team gets ready to defend its World Cup title in India in October-November.

Brook was a surprise omission from England's 15-man squad last week and responded by hitting 105 not out from 42 balls for Northern Superchargers at Headingley on Tuesday night. He walked in at 10 for 3 after 20 balls, and the next-highest score was just 15.

As things stand, he is likely to travel to India as a reserve but England are allowed to change their provisional 15-man World Cup squad until September 28. Four years ago, they made two late changes to their squad, with Jofra Archer and Liam Dawson replacing Joe Denly and David Willey.

"There's still a long time before everyone is meant to get on the plane, so we'll wait and see what happens. We all know Harry's a fantastic player and we saw what he could do the other night. It's not like it's a surprise : we know what a brilliant player he is, he's just the unfortunate one at the moment to not be in that squad at the moment," Buttler was quoted as saying.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes, the team's hero in the 2019 World Cup victory, has reversed his retirement in ODIs to help his country defend their title. The 32-year-old was also named to England's one-day international squad for the home series against New Zealand. Butler admitted that Stokes's comeback altered the dynamic of team selection, and as a result, Harry Brook did not make the squad.

"Of course, Ben Stokes coming back and being available just as a batter sort of changes the dynamic a little bit. Ben's a fantastic player to be able to welcome back, so it's a really tough selection," said Buttler, who is leading Manchester Originals in the Men's Hundred.

England will play a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final against New Zealand on October 5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.