Ben Stokes is one of the best all-rounders in the shortest format. His performance in the recently concluded T20I finals at the iconic MCG ground against Pakistan was epic with an unbeaten 52 helping England register their second T20 World Cup title.
Stokes did not feature in last year’s IPL due to his father passing away and other personal reasons. He has played 43 matches so far with 920 runs with a strike rate of 134.50, including two centuries and as many half-centuries in one of the most illustrious leagues in the world. Stokes played for Rising Pune Supergiants during the 2017 edition while featured for Rajasthan Royals from 2018-2021.
The all-rounder would be the most sought player in the 2022 auction that would take place on 23 December in Kochi. On that note, here we take a look at the 3 teams that can bid for Ben Stokes in the IPL auction.
#1 Mumbai Indians
Ben Stokes has featured in 43 matches and scored 920 runs with the ball. He created an impact with the ball with 28 wickets at an economy of 8.55 runs per over.
Mumbai Indians struggled badly in the 2022 IPL. They have released the likes of Daniel Sams, Fabien Allen, and Kieron Pollard as released players during the 2023 IPL.
With the lack of all-rounders in their squad, Mumbai Indians could buy the all-rounder. MI has 20.55 Crores left in the purse. They have 3 foreign players to choose from and Stokes could be an ideal choice for IPL 2023.
Stokes could fill the gap and will create an impact with both bat and ball. Mumbai Indians finished last in the points table during the 2022 IPL. MI could buy the all-rounder, they could come back with a bang and win another IPL title. Mumbai Indians won the IPL title 5 times and would be hoping for another title.
The bowling department looks solid with Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer as pace bowlers while Stokes will strengthen both the batting and bowling department.
#2 Lucknow Super Giants
Lucknow Super Giants did a decent job qualifying for the playoffs stage before losing to RCB in the eliminator. LSG released Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Chameera, Evin Lewis, Jason Holder, Manish Pandey, and Shahbaz Nadeem.
LSG dropped West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder. They are left with 23.35 Crore in their slot with 4 overseas players. Stokes could be an ideal choice to replace Holder and can create an impact.
Stokes would create a major impact in the middle order and will be an ideal option with ball-taking wickets at important times. LSG played their first season last year qualifying for the playoffs stage.
#3 Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad is another franchise that disappointed in IPL 2022. They finished at the number 8 spot under the captaincy of Kane Williamson.
SRH released Kane Willamson, Nicolas Pooran, J Suchith, Priyam Garg, R Samarth, Romario Shepherd, Sean Abbott, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Sushant Mishra, Vishnu Vinod, Saurabh Dubey.
They are left with 42.25 in the purse before IPL 2023 auction. Stokes could be an ideal choice with 4 overseas slots remaining for SRH. If SRH could pick the all-rounder up for this year’s IPL in the auction, then SRH could benefit from his versatile skills.
SRH lack an all-rounder, and he could be a great fit. With Kane Williamson released, Ben Stokes could also become captain of the franchise.
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