Chennai Super Kings made headlines on Friday during the IPL 2023 auctions after successfully winning the bid for English skipper and allrounder Ben Stokes for a price of 16.25 Crore. He became the third costliest player during the IPL auctions from the draft.
Ben Stokes will be a valuable addition to the Chennai family in the middle order with his teammate Moeen Ali already part of the squad.
Chennai Super Kings is one of the most successful teams in the tournament and they won four IPL trophies. However, they witnessed a major nightmare in the 2021 season of the Indian Premier League as the team finished in the ninth position with just four wins.
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The franchise was also in the news because of its leadership issues. Before the beginning of the tournament last year, MS Dhoni transferred his leadership responsibilities to Ravindra Jadeja, another dedicated player of the franchise.
The decision turned out to be the worst for the franchise as they lost consecutive games and in the end, MS Dhoni had to take over again to save the rest of the tournament for the franchise.
The purchase of Ben Stokes can be said as a new beginning for the Chennai Super Kings. MS Dhoni is on the verge of retirement and that is because of his age and his declining performance over the past two seasons. With Ben Stokes in the team, the franchise can look forward to a new leader and a smooth transition of leadership from MS Dhoni to Ben Stokes.
Ben Stokes already leads team England in the T20 and the Test format. Under his leadership, England won the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. His credentials as a leader are strong and that too in extremely different formats. Chennai has already tried Ravindra Jadeja and he was an absolute failure.
With Ben Stokes in their squad, Chennai Super Kings have cracked the code to strengthen their middle order and an individual who can handle taking the leadership role for the future.
Who is Logically the Best Option to Lead CSK after MS Dhoni?
MS Dhoni has been the man behind the success of Chennai Super Kings since the day the tournament started. Chennai has won four IPL trophies and they have been to seven IPL finals. The success ratio is higher and without a doubt, the whole credit goes to their leader MS Dhoni.
However, the time has come to accept the fact that Dhoni will soon announce his retirement from all the formats of the game and will be saying goodbye to CSK as well. To make sure that Chennai has a well-trained leader, Dhoni and the team management tried Ravindra Jadeja in the last years season but things didn't work out well.
The results were so bad that there were rumours that the franchise is parting ways with the player but that didn't happen as the player is talented and can win games for his team.
Considering the current Chennai squad, there are only two names who carry the same amount of experience in cricket and has got the skills to lead a team. Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes are two English players who can take responsibility for the team.
Devon Conway is the third option but he has never adopted a leadership role so he will be a huge risk.
Out of Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes, without a doubt, Ben Stokes is the most logical option. He has got experience, his credentials are strong in international cricket and the IPL and Stokes are well respected by other players in international cricket.
Moeen Ali lacks the experience to take the leadership role but can help stokes to understand the culture of the franchise as his right-hand man.
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