The Chennai Super Kings splurged out INR 16.5 crore for star all-rounder and England Test captain Ben Stokes at the IPL 2023 auction. CSK have not only got Stokes for all-round faculties, but also the 31-year-old is a great leader.
Stokes is now the most expensive player in CSK’s history at INR 16.5 crore. It is not difficult to imagine that the England all-rounder could be CSK’s next captain after MS Dhoni, who is all but confirmed to step down as a captain, at least, if not as a player, after IPL 2023.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, who led Maharashtra in domestic cricket this season, is also a candidate.
As CSK official asserted that having a foreign captain comes with its own set of problems regarding combination and availability, especially of an Test captain. Gaikwad is also in the fray.
“Of course, we are very happy getting Ben Stokes. He is not just a match-winner but also a great leader. It’s MS’s call on who he will name his successor. With foreign players leading in IPL, there is always the problem of combination. Plus, all-rounders are always tricky customers to handle. If Ben doesn’t get an NOC next year, it will be a problem. So, one can never rule out a young Ruturaj,” a CSK official told InsideSport.
What about Ravindra Jadeja, who Dhoni gave the captaincy ahead of IPL 2022 but the all-rounder stepped down after CSK lost 6 matches out of 8 and his own performances dipped?
“Jadeja is not in the plans as of now. He is a very important player for us. He needs to concentrate on his batting and bowling. He is a crucial fielder too as he stops 10-20 runs every match and takes some crucial catches. So, he is already a 3D player. We don’t want to put too much pressure on him,” the CSK official added.
About captaincy, it is all up to MS Dhoni, said CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan
“We are SUPER excited to have Ben Stokes in our line-up. MS is also SUPER-HAPPY, he was on call with us and was guiding the team throughout at the AUCTION. MS was happy that we got an allrounder we wanted. Captaincy option is there but it’s a call MS will take with time,” said CSK CEO.
