Blunt Take of Ex-India Opener on Ben Stokes Opting Out of IPL 2024
After the captain of England said that he wouldn’t be playing in the IPL season 2024, he was on the list of players released by the Chennai Super Kings. Stokes had said at the end of England’s campaign in the recently concluded 2023 World Cup that he will be undergoing knee surgery and is hopeful of returning fully fit for the upcoming Test calendar of England, which includes a five-match series in India from January 25.
Former opener of India Aakash Chopra has said CSK may have never retained Stokes even if he had chosen to take part in the 2024 IPL due to his injury problems, and moreover, no other team would have shelled out ₹16.25 crores for him in the auction either.
Chopra has said on his YouTube channel that “Ben Stokes has said that he won’t play in the IPL. Was 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.”
He further said, “So he did the right thing. I don’t know if it’s strategic or anything. Why should we comment on it? The truth is that 16.25 crore rupees were suddenly freed there. Ambati Rayudu has retired. So you have 20 crore rupees, and you will get five crores in any case when the purse is increased.”
