Chennai Super Kings decided to go all out to get England Test skipper Ben Stokes in IPL 2023 mini auction in Kochi on Friday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Supergiants were involved in an intense bidding war for the all rounder, but it was CSK who entered the race late and eventually was acquire for a price of Rs 16.25 crore.
Stokes, who was earlier released by last year's runners-up Rajasthan Royals, has skipped last year's IPL.
CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan was asked in the media briefing after the third set whether he had received any message from captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni about going for Ben Stokes.
The CSK CEO said that there was no message from Dhoni about going for Stokes but the franchise had come into the auction prepared to shell out for a big name all-rounder and that they were happy to have secured the services of Ben Stokes.
The feeling seems mutual as Moments after the news, Stokes took to Twitter to post a photo tweet. There were no captions to it but just yellow colour, and probably did not need one. Chennai liked the tweet and replied to it as well. “#Yellove All.!”
Chris Gayle, who last played the IPL in 2021 and is now part of the expert panel on Jio Cinemas, feels that CSK will be immensely benefitted from the presence of Stokes and Dhoni in the dressing room.
‘They are two fantastic minds in the dressing room, MSD and Ben Stokes. But I think Stokes will sit back and respect MSD and let him do his thing. The young players will also get to learn a lot from Stokes. It’s good to have him and he still has the likes of DJ Bravo in the CSK ranks,’ Gayle was quoted as saying by Jio Cinemas.
‘Fitting in the culture is important and I am sure without any doubt, with his experience, he will fit in amazingly with the Super Kings. As we all knock, they lack all-rounders and will accept Stokes with both hands,’ he added.
