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In a deft move in the just concluded Indian Premier League 2023's (IPL) auction, the four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) roped in England's star all-rounder for a whopping Rs 16.25 crore. With the windfall, England's Test skipper became the joint third-highest expensive player in the history of IPL. Stokes will be expected to fill the shoes of CSK's now bowling coach Dwayne Bravo and with this the noise for CSK captaincy has once again surfaced. The signing of Stokes has germinated a food for thought in the minds of cricket pundits that MS Dhoni might again relinquish the CSK captaincy and pass the baton to Stokes for the upcoming season. Something of this sort had happened in the the 15th season of the IPL too, when Dhoni handed the captaincy duties to CSK's star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja ahead of the season, but things didn't turn as expected and the latter stepped down from the post and the former India skipper had to resume the post yet again for the remainder of the season.
Once again the CSK might encounter the same captaincy imbroglio, this time between the old guard Dhoni and the Big Ben. But amid all this noise, the T20 giant and West Indies' explosive batter Chris Gayle passed his verdict on the imminent burning topic.
After the big signing, Gayle, during his discussion on Jio Cinemas, was asked on his take on the captaincy debate and he replied saying, “Dhoni. Once you are playing, you lead a team, okay? Done.”
Gayle also lauded CSK for signing Stokes, saying that the Yellow Army will be hugely benefited with both Stokes and Dhoni in their ranks.
“They are two fantastic minds in the dressing room, MSD and Ben Stokes. But I think Stokes will sit back and respect MSD and let him do his thing. The young players will also get to learn a lot from Stokes. It’s good to have him and he still has the likes of DJ Bravo in the CSK ranks,” Gayle said.
“Fitting in the culture is important and I am sure without any doubt, with his experience, he will fit in amazingly with the Super Kings. As we all knock, they lack all-rounders and will accept Stokes with both hands," he further added.
Stokes has never been a full-time leader of an IPL side. But his recent success as a captain of the England team and his prowess in T20 format has led to many thinking if Stokes' joining will lead to Dhoni handing over his captaincy duties to the England star. However, unlike Jadeja, Stokes has captaincy experience and he has led England to nine Test wins in 10 matches in 2022, while starting a revolution in the format with their ‘BazBall’ approach.
CSK players bought in IPL 2023 Auction: Kyle Jamieson (Rs 1 crore), Nishant Sindhu (Rs 60 lakh), Shaik Rasheed (Rs 20 lakh), Ben Stokes (Rs 16.25 crore), Ajinkya Rahane (Rs 50 lakh), Ajay Mandal (20 lacs), Bhagath Varma (Rs 20 lacs).
Retained CSK Players: Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway*, Dwaine Pretorius*, Maheesh Theekshana*, Matheesha Pathirana*, Mitchell Santner*, Moeen Ali*, MS Dhoni, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Simarjeet Singh, Subhranshu Senapati, Tushar Deshpande.
CSK full squad for IPL 2023: Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway*, Dwaine Pretorius*, Maheesh Theekshana*, Matheesha Pathirana*, Mitchell Santner*, Moeen Ali*, MS Dhoni, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Simarjeet Singh, Subhranshu Senapati, Tushar Deshpande, Bhagath Varma, Ajay Mandal, Kyle Jamieson*, Nishant Sindhu, Shaik Rasheed, Ben Stokes*, Ajinkya Rahane.
