Former legendary cricketer Matthew Hayden came up with a bold remark on the CSK's latest signing Ben Stokes ahead of the IPL 2023. Hayden feels that Stokes can be the X-factor for the Chennai Super Kings for the upcoming season. The Chennai-based franchise bought Stokes for a whopping Rs 16.25 crore and the England-based allrounder ended up becoming the most expensive auction buy for the franchise in its history.
“The X-factor for CSK this season is their new signing, Ben Stokes, who has never realised his potential in the IPL. And he’s one of those players we see playing all over the world. He’s got that match-winning ability. Now under a CSK regime where it’s all about cricket, I think that he’s got the big chance to be the X-factor this season,” Hayden said on Star Sports.
CSK will be battling against defending champions Gujarat Titans in the opening game of IPL 2023 on Friday. Earlier, as per the reports, CSK suffered a huge blow when Stokes was declared unfit to bowl at the start of the season due to his knee injury.
It was Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batting coach Michael Hussey who confirmed that Ben Stokes will play as a specialist batter in the initial phase of the T20 tournament.
"My understanding is he's ready to go as a batsman from the start. The bowling might be wait and see. I know he had his first very light bowl yesterday [Sunday] since he had his injections in his knee," Hussey told EspnCricinfo.
"The physios from Chennai and the ECB are working pretty closely together. My understanding is he won't be bowling much at all in the first few games of the tournament… it might be a few weeks. I'm not 100% sure, [but we will] hopefully get him bowling at some stage in the tournament," he added.