The Englishman was bought for a whopping INR 16.25 crore in the auction, but so far has only played a limited part in IPL 2023. He has so far only played in 2 matches, scoring 15 runs in those and bowling just a solitary over.
With the massive money that CSK paid for the 31-year-old, it hasn’t so far been repaid. And CSK head coach Stephen Flemming says the player will be out for at least another week.
Stokes was expected to be out till the middle of April, but a fresh injury may further delay his return to the team. The former Rajasthan Royals is said to be working hard on his fitness and vows to don the Yellow jersey soon.
CSK won their IPL 2023 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday, and after the match, Stephen Flemming was asked about the status of Stokes’ injury.
“Ben Stokes has suffered an injury setback and will be out for a week. Stokes, just a setback, I’m not gonna go into it, but it’s not major. It’s just he’s close. He’s working really hard to get right, can’t fault that at all. So, he just needs a little bit of luck,” Flemming said.
Despite the injury-stricken season, CSK find themselves 3rd in the IPL 2023 table and have 8 points after six matches. There was a massive injury scare after MS Dhoni was seen limping in the Rajasthan match, but the CSK captain played in the SRH match and led his team to an important victory.
And Flemming has confirmed the 41-year-old is completely fit and has no injury concerns at all.
“MS is completely fine. He is managing his injury well. He is available. He always keeps the team first. If he knows he can’t contribute because of injury, he would have sat out himself. There is no concern with him,” the CSK coach added.
MS Dhoni took a brilliant catch in the last match against the Hyderabad side and was jokingly bemused that he didn’t get the best catch award for that. The former India captain has led CSK to 4 IPL titles and hinted on his career plans saying ‘It’s the last phase of my career’.
CSK will be taking on their familiar foes Kolkata Knight Riders at the iconic Eden Gardens on Sunday (April 23).
