Chennai Super Kings became the second team to qualify for the IPL 2023 playoffs. Now Chennai will play the first qualifying match of the season against the defending champions Gujarat Titans tomorrow, Tuesday, May 23. Ahead of this match, CSK’s all-round star and England Test team captain Ben Stokes has returned to England. Meanwhile, Stokes revealed why he was excited to play under Mahendra Singh’s captaincy.
Ben Stokes was bought by Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2023 mini auction for a price of Rs 16.25 crore. However, due to injury, Stokes was only able to play two games for Chennai and returned to his home country England after he finished the league match. Stokes’ return was confirmed by franchise CEO Kasi Viswanathan. Meanwhile, the Chennai all-rounder revealed why he wanted to play under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
In a video posted by Chennai Super Kings, Stokes said: “I was very excited to play under (under the captaincy) Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He creates a great atmosphere in the team, but I only got to play two games and then I got injured and when I got fit again, I knew it would be difficult to get into the team right away. I was happy to win and support the team.”
Summer Rewind ft. NanBen! Here’s Stokesy being candid about all things cricket!#WhistlePodu #yellow
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) May 22, 2023
Significantly, Stokes was able to play just two matches due to his injury and later team combination, in which he scored 15 runs at an average of 7.50 while batting and bowled 1 over in which he went 18 runs without taking a wicket.
While talking about Stokes’ overall IPL career, he has played 45 matches. Batting in 44 innings of these matches, he has scored 935 runs at an average of 24.61 and a strike rate of 133.95 and has taken 28 wickets in bowling.