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Kochi, India
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made a bumper deal at the mini-auction on Friday in Kochi by purchasing England's World Cup winner Ben Stokes for INR 16.25 crores. Stokes, who helped England win the T20 World Cup in Australia earlier this year was always going to make headlines at the mini-auction given his credentials.
Meanwhile, Chennai's camp alongside their fans were elated after securing Ben's services for the next couple of years at least. But how did the skipper MS Dhoni reacted CSK CEO Kasi Viswanath gave us an update.
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As quoted by ESPN cricinfo, Viswanath not only cleared the air about Stokes' potential role as a future CSK captain once Dhoni leaves, he also informed everyone about how did the captain feel about having Stokes on his side, once again.
"Very excited to get Stokes, and we were lucky also because he came up at the end. We wanted an all-rounder, and MS was very happy that we got Stokes. The captaincy option is there, but itâs a call MS will take with time. Kyle Jamieson was injured, so maybe many others didnât look at him. We had information from Fleming that he had recovered and was raring to go. CSK looks bright, and I hope we do well this season. We follow the process always, and that will help us do well," Kasi Viswanath said.
Ben Stokes and MS Dhoni played together in 2017 for Rising Pune Supergiant where Stokes helped RPS reach the finals for the first time. This time at the CSK this pair is likely to flourish as well. With Stokes on his side, MS Dhoni will now have an added bowling option under his sleeves. The presence of a match-winner like Ben Stokes will boost the team's confidence who stood 9th on the points table with just 4 wins in 14 games the last season.
As the upcoming season of the IPL is likely to be MS Dhoni's last as a player for CSK, he will like to bid adieu to franchise cricket by winning it for the 5th time; and Ben Stokes will play a handy role in helping him achieve the last hurray.