IPL 2023: Fitness concerns over Ben Stokes? CSK head coach Stephen Fleming reveals

IPL 2023: Chennai Super Kings lost to Gujarat Titans in the opening match of the Indian Premier League 2022 by five wickets. Shubman Gill was the star of the Titans' chase as he played an inning of 62 runs and gave his team a good start. Ben Stokes who was included in the CSK side just ahead of the tournament was not able to do much in the match and got out for a score of seven. 

Ben Stokes is an all-rounder who was included in the team as a batsman and could not bowl due to his knee injury. Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming has given an update on Stokes' fitness and has said that he is positive about his injury and that the all-rounder is also making good progress. 

'He’s progressing well and had a..., said Stephen Fleming

“He’s progressing well. He had a fair time off between the last Test match and getting here. And he had some medical work done on the knee. We want to do the right thing by making sure that he’s 100 percent ready to go. He’s not there yet, and that includes bowling form. We are working closely with him, but he’s making really good progress", Stephen Fleming said. 

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“Really happy with what he’s done so far. I think he feels pretty positive about the progress he’s made. That’s another addition to the side - when he starts bowling. We’ve got some good players to come in, and we’ve introduced some players today. So not all bad", Stephen Fleming said. 

Coming back to the key highlights of the match, the visitors were well placed to go past 200 but at last fell 15-20 runs short due to a consistent fall of wickets. Ruturaj Gaikwad was the star of the CSK batting who played an inning of 92 runs which consisted of nine sixes. However, due to Shivam Dube's slow batting in the middle overs Chennai only managed to score 178/7 and in the end, it was the bowlers who also displayed a poor performance and were not able to defend the target. Chennai Super Kings will now take on Lucknow Super Giants on April 3, 2022.