IPL 2023: When will CSK's Ben Stokes return to action? head coach Stephen Fleming provides update — 'He will be out for...'

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has confirmed that England all-rounder Ben Stokes, who was bought for Rs 16.

SportsTak

• Sat • 22 Apr 2023

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has confirmed that England all-rounder Ben Stokes, who was bought for Rs 16.25 Crore during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 mini-auction, will be sidelined for a week due to an injury setback. Stokes has only appeared in two games for CSK — for Gujarat Titans (GT) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) before getting ruled hurting his toe. He has missed their next four matches and is set to miss at least one more.

"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 luck," Fleming said during the post-match press conference after CSK beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets on April 21.

Fleming also spoke about the knee injury that has been plaguing MS Dhoni. He spoke about the priorities of their captain and also gave an update on the injuries of their two medium pacers Deepak Chahar and Sisanda Magala, as well as Simarjeet Singh, who missed most of the last domestic season.

"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," Fleming added.

CSK lost Chahar due to a hamstring injury, while Magala is healing from a split webbing. Magala himself is an injury replacement for Kyle Jamieson, while Mukesh Choudhary has also been ruled out of IPL 2023.

Match recap:
It was a dominating win for CSK, despite Openers Harry Brook (18) and Abhishek Sharma (34) setting up a 35-run partnership at the top, before a 36-run stand for the second wicket between Sharma and Rahul Tripathi (21). But the SRH batters struggled against the CSK spinners and eventually, the wickets fell like a pack of cards.

Jadeja, along with Maheesh Theekshana (1/27), put a stranglehold on the SRH batting unit after Dhoni asked the spinners to take over from overs 7 to 15. The veteran Indian all-rounder took the important wickets of Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, and Mayank Agarwal, while Theekshana was economical in his bowling in addition to the scalp of skipper Markram. The SRH batters found it tough to get any boundaries after 10.3 overs as the spinners maintained their dominance.

With the bat, Devon Conway accosted for most of the runs with his third straight half-century of the tournament. He was ably supported by Ruturaj Gaikwad, who also scored a half-century before being run out. Conway remained unbeaten as Ajinkya Rahane (9) and Ambati Rayudu (9) helped the four-time champions seal an emphatic victory.