MS Dhoni, according to CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan, is “extremely thrilled” with the addition of English all-rounder Ben Stokes to the team for the next IPL 2023 season.
At a one-day mini-auction held on December 23, the Dhoni-led team paid a whopping INR 16.25 crores to get Stokes’ services. Stokes, who had his base price of INR 2 crore, helped the national team win the Twenty20 World Cup 2022 with a courageous and cautious knock.
At the IPL 2023 auction, Stokes fetched INR 16.25 crore, putting him in third place behind Sam Curran and Cameron Green.
On the eve of CSK’s first game of the IPL 2022, Dhoni announced his retirement as captain and was replaced by all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. However, Jadeja stepped down as captain and Dhoni once again assumed the position halfway through the competition. After losing 10 of their last 14 games, CSK placed ninth in the IPL standings.
“Stokes was a great pick, and we got lucky that he came up at the end. We wanted a player who could do everything, and MS was glad that we got Stokes,” CSK CEO Viswanathan said.
“The future looks good for CSK, and I hope we do well this season. We always do things the right way, which will help us do well,” he added.
Many people questioned if CSK recruited Stokes with the intention of making him the next captain after MS Dhoni retires. Also, when the auction was over, CSK CEO Kasi Viswanath dispelled rumours about who will be captain and shared the former Indian captain’s thoughts on Stokes’s arrival.
While playing for the Rising Pune Supergiant in the 2017 IPL season, Stokes and Dhoni were in the same locker room. We need to wait and watch how important Ben Stokes will be for the Chennai Super Kings. He also has a big price tag to justify.
Twitter Reacts:
Big man set such standards 💥👏 @benstokes38 https://t.co/WvR0DsdphM
Advertisement— Charan (@urscherry3) December 24, 2022
The delusion in which csk fans live is insane
Stokes isna good player but not worth 16.25cr.
Chennai has been robbed again once by Deepak chahar then by Ben Stokes https://t.co/OlGBd1W5Dh— Varun Narayanan (@varunnoob) December 24, 2022
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MS Dhoni must have whooped their ass for not buying Sam so they had to make it up by buying stokes https://t.co/iBn0eW2rzo
Advertisement— Warren (@castelinowarren) December 23, 2022
Thala ,jaddu ,stokes less goo https://t.co/C6irxioxJu
— Kalyan cult :-) (@Msd7708) December 23, 2022
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I mean why won't he be? Match winners identify match winners😌 https://t.co/B2IL101q9O
Advertisement— Adarsh (@WhyAdarsh) December 23, 2022
Always knew he would want ben stokes in his team,anyone who have followed thala well can guess this😂 https://t.co/zoABjBbVhk
— Suraj (@Cricket_1807) December 23, 2022
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