Ben Stokes was one of the most in-demand players entering the Indian T20 League 2023 mini-auction, and it was anticipated that he would draw high bids. That’s exactly what happened; he was bought by the Chennai team for the staggering sum of 16.25 crores, making him the third-most expensive player ever sold at auction.
Experts and fans questioned whether Stokes had been chosen to succeed MS Dhoni as captain shortly after bringing in the England Test captain. Later, Chennai CEO Kasi Viswanath broke his silence on the captaincy issue and revealed Dhoni’s reaction to Stokes joining the team.
“Very excited to get Stokes and we were lucky also because he came up at the end. We wanted an allrounder and MS was very happy that we got Stokes. Captaincy option is there but it’s a call MS will take with time. Kyle Jamieson was injured so maybe many others didn’t 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,” he was quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
Before the Indian T20 League 2022 season began, Dhoni resigned as captain, installing Ravindra Jadeja as the new captain. However, Chennai was left struggling at the bottom of the standings, and Jadeja was also under pressure. Dhoni was consequently compelled to assume the captaincy role once again.
Sam Curran becomes the most expensive player
The majority predicted a mind-boggling sum when the 2023 mini auction was approaching and had England all-rounder Sam Curran back in the Chennai team. Curran set the record for the most expensive player ever at the auction in Kochi on Friday, but Chennai was unable to secure him.
The MS Dhoni-led team now looks like a solid one as they also acquired New Zealand’s star seamer Kyle Jamieson for a base price of 1 crore.
