How MS Dhoni reacted to CSK buying Ben Stokes at IPL 2023 auction

Ben Stokes became the join-third most expensive player in the history of IPL auction when Chennai Super Kings acquired him for Rs 16.25 crore on Friday ahead of the upcoming 2023 season. The MS Dhoni-led franchise had to fight an intense bidding war for the services of the England Test captain and the acquisition of Stokes has given rise to speculation that the English all-rounder will eventually take over the captaincy role from Dhoni.

IPL 2023 Auction: Players sold/unsold

CSK CEO Kasi Viswanath after the auction spoke about the possibility of Stokes becoming the captain in future and also shared Dhoni’s reaction to CSK buying the England player.

“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,” Viswanath was quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

Dhoni had quit CSK captaincy ahead of the 2022 season with Ravindra Jadeja taking over as the skipper. But CSK’s poor performance under the guidance of the Indian all-rounder forced Dhoni to return as CSK captain.

IPL 2023 Complete squads: GT | SRH | RR | MI | PBKS | CSK | RCB | KKR | LSG | DC

Apart from Stokes, CSK also bought Ajinkya Rahane, Kyle Jamieson, Nishant Sindhu, Shaik Rasheed and Bhagath Varma at the auction.

Reflecting on pacer Jamieson’s purchase who was acquired for Rs 1 crore, Viswanath said: “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.”

A total of 80 players were sold at the IPL 2023 mini auction for a whopping Rs 167 crore.

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