IPL 2023 mini-auction: Ben Stokes joins MS Dhoni’s CSK, Yellow Army buys him for INR 16.25 crores

On Friday (December 23), the IPL 2023 mini-auction started off with a bang with some big names fetching whopping deals. After the likes of Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Cameron Green, etc., England all-rounder and Test captain Ben Stokes was sold for an earth-shattering INR 16.25 crore (INR 162.5 million) to the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK); being the third-most expensive buy so far in the auction.

Stokes also became the joint-third most expensive player in IPL history after CSK battled all odds to gain his services for next year’s IPL. KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were also interested in Stokes but bowed out of the bidding war, handing Dhoni & Co. a steal deal. 

It is to be noted that Stokes has now reunited with Dhoni as the duo will gear up for the same franchise after a six-year-gap. They had last played together during IPL 2017 for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS). Back then, the Steve Smith-led Pune outfit entered the final but lost by a run. 

Talking about Stokes’ IPL numbers, the all-rounder has played 43 games amassing 920 runs — including a hundred — at a strike rate of 134.20 and has also accounted for 28 scalps. 

After a disappointing run in IPL 2022, with Stokes help CSK rediscover their mojo and win them their fifth title? Only time will tell…