IPL 2023: Ravichandran Ashwin predicts the team that will go ‘All-out’ for Ben Stokes in the upcoming auction

The Indian Premier League (IPL) mini-auction is set to be held on December 23 and speculation is already rife on what players the teams will go for. There have been a lot of tournaments for the scouts to consider while evaluating the players and the one that they might be using as a parametre for the big stars would most probably be the T20 World Cup.

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India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin feels that England all-rounder Ben Stokes would be a sought-after players and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) could be the franchise that wants him the most. “Lucknow Super Giants will definitely go for Ben Stokes. Only if they don’t get him, they will go for other players,” said Ashwin on his Youtube page.

The Lucknow Super Giants, have a total of Rs 23.35 crore remaining for the auction, and are one of the teams going into the event with a pretty heavy purse. So they have the capability to buy Ben Stokes even if his price shoots up in a bidding war. 

The Super Giants have 4 overseas slots remaining, and since they have released a batting mainstay in Manish Pandey and two all rounders in Andrew Tye and Jason Holder, Ben Stokes will be a agreat addition to the team, who can tick all these boxes.

Stokes has played 43 matches in the IPL and has scored 920 runs at an average of 25.56 and a strike rate of 134.50. He has two centuries and as many half-centuries to his name. Stokes has also picked 28 wickets in the tournament. 

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The IPL 2023 mini-auction is slated to be held in Kochi on December 23. All teams have already released the names of players they have retained for the upcoming edition of the tournament.