In the team’s opening match of the current Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Friday, March 31, all-rounder Ben Stokes of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) struggled to get going with the bat.
At No. 1, Stokes stepped up to the plate. 4 following the team’s fast start by Ruturaj Gaikwad. In the eighth over of CSK’s innings, the left-handed batter stunned Rashid Khan with an amazing boundary down the ground.
But the deft spinner came back, tricking Stokes in the very next delivery. Outside of the off stump, Rashid bowled a quicker delivery. The southpaw attempted to hit it through the offside but misjudged the length and edged it to the wicketkeeper.
Took a nimble catch behind the stumps to early dismiss the star batter. Ben Stokes left the game after only making seven runs off of six balls. Following the dismissal, several fans mocked England’s Test captain on social media for his poor batting performance.
The Afghan spinner made two significant breakthroughs for his team earlier in the innings by dismissing the dangerous-appearing Moeen Ali for 23 runs.
Ben Stokes’ services were purchased by CSK for a staggering 16.25 crore at the IPL 2023 auction
However, they were dealt a severe blow before the start of the season because the player’s fitness was seriously questioned. Stokes won’t likely bowl in the team’s opening match and will instead play as a specialist batter, according to assistant coach Michael Hussey.
During England’s Test series against New Zealand earlier this year, the 31-year-old experienced knee problems. In an interview with ESPNcricinfo and the PA Association, Hussey discussed how to manage Stokes’ workload.
Fan’s Reaction to Ben Stokes
Ben stokes 😓 pic.twitter.com/LDRQxrOpvZ
— STON.POST (@ston1post) April 1, 2023
Csk signing Ben Stokes for INR 16.25cr jst for batting 😂😂#SCAM #Scam_1992#IPL2023 #CSK pic.twitter.com/uiC4e9OWjd
— Mohit Agarwal (@MohitAg77168622) April 1, 2023
Chennai Super Kings while batting first put up a decent total of 178 runs with the loss of 7 wickets, however, the runs seem to fall short as Gujarat Titans chased the target down and defeated the team with 5 wickets.
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