Ben Stokes, the star England and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder will only play as a specialist batter at the start of IPL 2023 to manage his knee injury better, batting coach, Michael Hussey said.
Stokes was signed by the Chennai Super Kings for an impressive fee of INR 16.25 crores in the IPL 2023 auction.
However, the England Test captain had suffered a knee injury during England’s recent tour of New Zealand, and after bowling, just two overs in a dramatic one-run defeat in the second Test in Wellington the 31-year-old said: “I’m not going to lie, it’s incredibly frustrating knowing something has been holding me back from performing as I’d like to.”
ECB medical staff will work closely with CSK staff to ensure that Ben Stokes is taken care of and his workload is managed to keep an eye on the Ashes 2023 which follows the IPL.
ESPNCricinfo reported that though a scan on the knee came back clear, Stokes has taken a cortisone injection - a common anti-inflammatory injection that reduces swelling - ahead of the IPL.
"My understanding is he's ready to go as a batsman from the start. The bowling might be waiting and see. I know he had his first very light bowl yesterday [Sunday] since he had his injections in his knee. 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,” CSK batting coach Michael Hussey told ESPNCricinfo and PA News.
Hussey added that Stokes had been "hitting the ball really well" since arriving in India, predicting that he would be "huge" to the franchise's bid to reach the playoffs if he manages his workload and begins bowling as well.
(AFP inputs)
