England Test captain Ben Stokes will be playing as a specialist batter for Chennai Super Kings in the early part of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL), batting coach Michael Hussey has said. Stokes has been suffering from a knee injury which had earlier put doubts over whether he will be able to take part in the league this season at all. Hussey said that the franchise is working closely with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
My understanding is he's ready to go as a batsman from the start. The bowling might be wait and see. I know he had his first very light bowl yesterday (Sunday) since he had his injections in his knee," said Hussey on Tuesday."The physios from Chennai and 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," Hussey added.Stokes had earlier hinted that he might not be available for the CSK for the business end of the tournament as England return to action on June 1 for the one-off Test against Ireland before the Ashes, that begins June 16. The IPL ends on May 28.
