IPL 2023: Ben Stokes Announces Departure For India, Chennai Super Kings Fans Can’t Keep Calm

England skipper Ben Stokes announced his departure for India as he is headed to join Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, which gets underway on March 31. Stokes, who was bought by CSK for Rs 16.25 crore in the IPL 2023 auction, will be playing under the leadership of MS Dhoni yet again.

The England all-rounder, who has retired from ODI cricket, announced on social media, “See you soon @chennaiipl”. One fan said, “captain is waiting” while another tweeted, “start the whistles”. Meanwhile, former India opener Abhinav Mukund gave Stokes some reassurance. “Ur bags will be safe in chennai,” he said with a laughing emoji.

See you soon @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/RvJjPtHpJi — Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) March 23, 2023

Stokes and CSK will open their IPL 2023 campaign against defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 31. The Englishman didn’t register his name for the IPL 2022 mega auction after turning out for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2021 season.

Stokes took a mental health break, missing a huge part of 2021, especially after the death of his father Ged. “It was a bitterly disappointing Ashes campaign Down Under, but we have to learn from it and begin the job of building the team back to where we want to be. It will take time, of course it will. Even the white-ball team took time to get to the point where we could win a World Cup.

“And we need to go on a similar journey with the Test team now, with everyone involved 100 percent committed to doing what is necessary to improve and be among the best teams again. I want to work alongside Joe Root, the best man we could have as captain, to get us there. Test cricket is absolutely my number one priority,” Stokes had written in his Daily Mirror column last year.

“It is why I thought long and hard about whether to go to the IPL or not, and felt that this was not about the money but about where my priorities are. It wouldn’t be fair on any team I signed up for if I wasn’t totally focused on things out there,” he added.

Stokes has played in 43 matches in IPL in his career and scored 920 runs with two hundreds and two fifties to his name. He has also picked up 28 wickets in the T20 league.