Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming revealed the team management is working closely with their star all-rounder Ben Stokes to get him fully fit for the upcoming matches, including his bowling. The England all-rounder was picked for a whopping INR 16.25 crores ahead of IPL 2023.
Earlier it was reported, Ben Stokes, the England all-rounder is slated to play as a pure batter for the first half of the IPL 2023 for CSK to manage his knee injury which he sustained during the second test against New Zealand.
“He’s progressing well. He had a fair time off between the last Test match and getting here. And he had some medical work done on the knee. We want to do the right thing by making sure that he’s 100 percent ready to go. He’s not there yet and that includes bowling form. We are working closely with him, but he’s making really good progress,” Stephen Fleming said.
The former New Zealand skipper was happy with the progress of Ben Stokes–and feels the side will be benefitted when he starts bowling for his team. Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes played as pure batters for Chennai Super Kings in the opening game.
“Happy with what he’s done so far. I think he feels pretty positive about the progress he’s made. That’s another addition to the side – when he starts bowling. We’ve got some good players to come in and we’ve introduced some players today. So not all bad,” Stephen Fleming added.
The stylish left-handed all-rounder is seen as a possible successor of MS Dhoni but had a poor debut for Chennai Super Kings scoring only 7 runs in his debut innings. Stokes is the England Test captain and recently played a huge role in England’s T20 World Cup 2022 title win.
We Could Have Got 190-200 Runs – Stephen Fleming On CSK’s Batting Woes
Speaking about the match, Stephen Fleming praised Ruturaj Gaikwad for his phenomenal batting against Gujarat Titans and ruined the performance of the other batter in the team, and added that the team was 20 to 25 runs short of the total they would have expected.
“We thought we were a little bit short. Ruturaj played a great hand, but around him, we just didn’t capitalize on the couple of positions we got into. They bowled well from 12 to 16 overs and we couldn’t get that final push that we needed. 180 is a good score, but we were in a position where we could have got 190-200. We were probably a little big match underdone,” Stephen Fleming added.
Chennai Super Kings will look to make comeback against Lucknow Super Giants on their home soil on April 2. Chennai will return to Chepauk after three long years, which has been a fortress for them over the years.