IPL 2023: Watch – Ben Stokes Began IPL Training With Some Big Sixes at CSK Camp Ahead of 2023 Edition

IPL 2023: The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League will commence on Friday, March 31. After a thrilling 2022 edition, the new season will begin with a game between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans. It will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. CSK, which won the 2021 season, couldn’t replicate its performance in the next edition. They had a horrible season and finished second from the bottom with only four wins out of 14 matches.

But CSK has always bounced back brilliantly after going down. Thus, everyone is expecting a good performance from the Yellow Army. MS Dhoni will be back leading the team, and they will play half of the group games at home as well. However, the franchise has made all the necessary changes to address all the issues they had last season. As a result, they have also signed some big names at the auction.

IPL 2023: Watch – Ben Stokes smashing some big sixes at CSK practice session

The biggest name joining the four-time champion in 2023 is English Test skipper Ben Stokes. CSK spent a whopping amount of INR 16.25 crore on him, making him the costliest player ever bought by CSK in the IPL’s history. Stokes will certainly balance the team. He reached Chennai on Friday and joined the team at their first camp at the Chepuak Stadium, where he chanced his arms and hit some lusty blows.

On Friday, the franchise shared a video clip featuring Stokes, where he was doing some power-hitting sessions. The net was set up in the center of the wicket, and the southpaw smashed two big sixes. One six he hit to a right-arm bowler over his head, and the second he smashed over long-off to a throwdown.

Notably, the southpaw did not participate in 2022 because he chose to focus on English test cricket after the disappointing Ashes. He also missed the first half of the 2021 edition because of an injury. Later, when the second half of the 2021 season was shifted to the UAE, he didn’t take part in that. However, ahead of the start of the 2023 edition, the all-rounder hinted that he might miss some games at the end. He will be leading England in a one-off test against Ireland.