IPL 2023: Ben Stokes, CSK's Rs 16.25 crore buy, opens up on his 2-match stint this season

England’s Test captain Ben Stokes made an interesting ‘John Terry’ reference while shedding his thoughts on his debut season with Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League 2023. Having played only two games for the MS Dhoni-led side in IPL 2023, Stokes missed out on most of the tournament due to an injury and traveled back to his homeland two weeks before CSK lifted the title. At the pre-match press conference ahead of the one-off Test against Ireland, Stokes was asked about his time at CSK this year.

In a rare sight, the English captain went on to draw similarities with former Chelsea skipper John Terry. "I played a little bit of a John Terry role winning the IPL," the star all-rounder told reporters at the iconic Lord’s stadium after CSK’s 5th IPL title triumph. While Ben Stokes will certainly receive the winner’s medal for Chennai Super Kings’ feat, the INR 16.25 buy did not go fully yellow for the team this season.

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John Terry's famous Champions League title win with Chelsea in 2012

By referring to John Terry, it is understood that Stokes was highlighting how Terry famously lifted the Champions League title with Chelsea in 2020 wearing the full team kit despite not playing in the final. Terry was suspended for the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich. Stokes made his last appearance for the MS Dhoni-led CSK on April 3, and remained on the bench for over a month, before heading back to England. 

"I don't need much bowling for the rest of my body to tick over"

As per ESPN Cricinfo, the 31-year-old watched Ravindra Jadeja scoring the winning runs for Chennai Super Kings against Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2023 final on his mobile screen at the team hotel.  Meanwhile, talking to the reporters at Lord’s, Stokes revealed how he took cues from James Anderson and has limited his bowling between Test matches. “Before I didn't have to worry about that," he said on Wednesday. 

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"I could just bowl and bowl and bowl and turn up pretty fresh. Now I'm probably not able to do that, so in between games is probably the most important bit of managing anything correctly. The thing about me is that I don't need much bowling for the rest of my body to tick over. I can have quite a lot of time off and then build up quite quickly. It's not doom and gloom if I do or don't bowl in this game,” Stokes added.