• Home
  • Who Said What
  • Would Any Other Team Have Bought Him Ex Kkr Star Downplays Ben Stokes Hype

'Would Any Other Team Have Bought Him..', Ex-KKR Star Downplays Ben Stokes Hype

image-lpgs748bBen Stokes won't be a part of IPL 2024 [X.com]

The IPL carnival is just around the corner, and ahead of the big tournament, a mini-auction is scheduled to go on floors on 19th December. As per standard procedure, teams released their respective list of retained players on the deadline, which concluded yesterday.

In a significant setback to the defending champions, Chennai Super Kings, their most prized possession of last season's auction, Ben Stokes pulled out of the 2024 IPL season due to workload issues.

CSK bought Stokes for a mammoth salary of 16.25 crores last year. But the all-rounder registered minimal contributions in the franchise's title run. 

Having said that, Ben Stokes defied ODI retirement to feature in the recently concluded World Cup. While England witnessed its worst World Cup campaign in decades, Stokes endured a knee injury during the first half of the league stages.

He played through the same during the tournament but won't avert the surgical route. Thus, eyeing the recovery from the knee injury and workload management issues, Stokes took the plunge and opted out of IPL 2024.

Aakash Chopra Claims Ben Stokes Was Overhyped Last Auction

That being said, former Indian cricketer and mainstream commentator Aakash Chopra played down hype created around the English all-rounder in his latest YouTube video.

Chopra said that CSK had to release Ben Stokes due to his unavailability for the upcoming IPL season. However, the commentator does not believe the franchise would have retained him had the all-rounder committed, solely due to the latter's injury concerns.

Aakash Chopra further added that if Stokes had entered the auction, no team in their right mind would have spent as much as 16.25 crores for an injury-riddled player like Ben Stokes.

"Ben Stokes has said that he won't play in the IPL. Were Chennai going to retain him? That's a big question. In my opinion, they weren't going to do so. Would any other team have bought him for 16.25 crores? My two cents - it was not going to happen," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

It's safe to say CSK did miss a trick when they went a little too far to acquire the highly acclaimed English all-rounder last season. Considering his injury history and workload issue, perhaps the CSK management should have stayed more vigilant in their approach.