England red-ball skipper Ben Stokes is happy with the way the Indian Premier League turned out for him as he was able to train among the best players in the cash-rich league to top up his game even if he could not play many matches. The Chennai Super Kings all-rounder played only two games for the 2023 champions before pulling out of the tournament before the playoffs.
The England all-rounder has played only two games for the four-time champions as he suffered an injury that kept him out for most of the season. The 31-year-old, who was bought by CSK for ₹16.25 crore during the IPL auction in December 2022, participated in just the first two matches for his side.
Speaking to the media in England, Ben Stokes cheekily said that he played John Terry‘s role in winning the Indian Premier League and feels that he should have played all the games for the side which didn’t happen as he tried to top up his game practicing against the quality bowlers in the high octane tournament and reckons that he tried to turn things around for the disappointing injury to concentrate on his recovery process
“I played a little bit of a John Terry role winning the IPL,” Ben Stokes joked.
“I think I would much rather have been playing, I’ve then seen that as an opportunity to train as opposed to playing and then topping yourself up as the tournament goes along. Once you get into the tournament it’s like play, travel, all that kind of stuff”.
So, I was actually able to turn a disappointing situation into a positive one because I was able to concentrate on properly being able to train, whether that be technical stuff with the bat or fitness stuff, stuff in the gym, and being able to concentrate on something else,” Ben Stokes said.
The England skipper is currently leading the England side against the Ireland team in the one-off test match in Lords Ben Stokes and Co. lost only one out of their 10 home Tests last year, including a 3-0 clean sweep of New Zealand and their form has been outstanding in the past 12 months.
It’s Disappointing To Only Play Two Games – Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes revealed that he tried to focus on longer-time goals during the Indian Premier League and admitted that it was disappointing to play only two games for Chennai Super Kings in the cash-rich league and reckons that the injury was a blessing in disguise as he could train for the all-important summer in England.
“And that was a really good way to get through that long period of having something else to focus on, as opposed to being disappointed I wasn’t playing.
“So looking back on it, you might say it’s disappointing to only play two games but I was able to then do something else. Sitting here today, I’m actually thinking it could have been a blessing in disguise – every cloud has a silver lining,” Ben Stokes concluded.
Ben Stokes has been a revelation for the nation since the 2019 World Cup for England and took over Test captaincy for Joe Root and also recently played a huge role in England’s T20 World Cup title win and is expected to play a pivotal role in Ashes captaining the team.