The Chennai Super Kings star has been ruled out for at least the next two matches of his team's league stage campaign in IPL 2023.
Even as they rally on their impressive allround display and victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) on Saturday (April 8) at the Wankhede, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have suffered a body blow to their chances for the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Ben Stokes, the franchise’s premier fast-bowling allrounder, has been ruled out of playing action for at least another week. According to a report in Cricbuzz, the England star icon player will be missing CSK’s league stage campaign for the next two matches after going down with a toe injury.
Stokes is unlikely to return to playing duties for a minimum of another week while the four-time champions strive to bolster their playoffs hopes on the back of the triumph against MI.
Picked by MS Dhoni & company for a massive sum of INR 16.25 crores at the mini-auction held late last year, the modern-day giant from Durham was sidelined for the clash with CSK’s great rivals with an injury on his toe.
He is set to undergo a week-long rehabilitation programme in Chennai now, missing the home fixture against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on April 12.
Also missing the MI clash was CSK’s spin allrounder and Ben Stokes’ regular England teammate, Moeen Ali, who was declared unfit for the critical league stage bout due to food poisoning in a precautionary measure. Moeen is expected to be fit in time for the Royals clash.
But Dhoni’s men would be a touch concerned over Stokes’ toe injury and his rehab and hope that the cricketer recovers swiftly in time for the away game on April 17 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), another of CSK’s marquee rivals.
Stokes would also hope he hasn’t done any serious damage to his toe as he tries to repay the trust shown in him by the famed franchise with an astonishing winning bid at the mini-auction held in Kerala.
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That bid got the Englishman reuniting with MS Dhoni after IPL 2017, when they both turned out for the now-disbanded Rising Pune Supergiants. Back then, too, the RPSG side had made a whopping bid of INR 14.2 crores to purchase one of the world’s best allrounders.
