England all-rounders Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali have joined their Indian Premier League franchise, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), as the team posted their photo on arrival in India for the IPL 2023.
The tournament will begin on March 31 and will see CSK taking on defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Chennai-based franchise had a forgettable campaign in the IPL 2022, finishing ninth in the points table. The four-time IPL champions failed to advance to the qualifiers for the second time, winning only four out of 14 matches.
Chennai will be hoping to end the upcoming season on a high note amid speculation over legendary captain MS Dhoni’s final season in the league. And they would want Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali to have a huge impact in the season.
Moeen Ali And Ben Stokes Join CSK Ahead Of IPL 2023
Meanwhile, England Test captain Ben Stokes, who was bought for a whopping Rs 16.25 crores in the mini-auction, joined the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) along with his fellow teammate Moeen Ali for the upcoming season.
CSK posted their arrival on Twitter with a photo of the duo and the caption reading: “Good Morrow, Lads! The wait is over.”
Good Morrow, Lads! The wait is over. 🔥#WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁🥳 pic.twitter.com/btnULr6Tms
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) March 24, 2023
This will be the second time Ben Stokes will be playing under MS Dhoni’s captaincy as he made his Indian Premier League debut in 2017 when Dhoni was leading the Rising Pune Supergiants and had won the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament as well.
While Ben Stokes announced that he will be available for the entire IPL 2023, there is still a bit of doubt over Stokes’ availability for IPL 2023 in the later stages due to the Ashes.
Chennai Super Kings squad for IPL 2023:
MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma, Sisanda Magala