Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra was perplexed to see Chennai pay a high price in the Indian T20 League 2023 auction for England all-rounder Ben Stokes. The Men in Yellow paid a whopping INR 16.25 crore for Stokes’ services.
Stokes previously played for the now-defunct Pune team alongside MS Dhoni, and the two appear to have a great rapport. However, Chopra believes that the turning track at Chepauk will not suit the England Test captain’s batting style.
“It was a bit baffling for me when Chennai went for Stokes. I felt they won’t go for Stokes and would go for Kane Williamson if they needed a future captain. But the fact that they went hard for Stokes might mean that they are looking to make him Dhoni’s successor and want to build a team around him,” he said.
“When I look at the pitch in Chennai, I get confused about where Stokes will bat and with what kind of approach. He is surely not Bravo’s replacement as he doesn’t bowl that way, and they also don’t have any top order slots empty. If he plays at No. 3 and Moeen Ali at No. 4, then where will the likes of Rayudu, Jadeja and Dhoni bat?” he added.
In the meantime, they also signed Kyle Jamieson, which strengthens their fast bowling lineup, which already includes Deepak Chahar. The Men in Yellow retained their core earlier and tried to fill in the gaps in the auction. They would now like to make amends for a disastrous season last year. They finished in the bottom two in the 2022 season.
Chennai’s Squad for the Indian T20 League 2023
MS Dhoni (c), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chowdhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Verma
