IPL 2023: CSK player set to leave after final league game

The Chennai Super Kings all-rounder has been marred with injuries and has played a peripheral role with his IPL franchise this season. CSK’s INR 16.25 crore buy of the auction has been mostly sidelined this season with injury woes.

And according to ESPNCricinfo, the Englishman will be leaving the IPL after the end of the league phase. The England all-rounder has played two matches for CSK this year, in the first two matches of the season.

He scored 7 and 8 in those matches, and conceded 18 runs in the solitary over that he bowled. And since then, the player has seen no action with injury concerns.

Stokes had some toe issue earlier this season, and then he suffered another unrevealed setback which hindered his return to the squad. The CSK player is said to be available now but hasn’t made the cut into the team.

CSK’s overseas quartet of Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Matheesha Pathirana and Maheesh Theekshana are doing extremely well, and it looks like they will stick with the same team for the last league game against Delhi Capitals.

CSK coach Stephen Flemming also revealed Stokes is being regarded as a batting backup as his ‘ability to bowl overs at the moment is still a bit of a challenge’. The CSK coach also indicated Stokes won’t be making the cut in the final match.

It is understood Stokes will leave for England on late hours of Saturday (May 20), just after CSK’s final league game against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

With England’s monumental Ashes series against Australia just a month away, Stokes is said to be keen to make a return to England early. The England captain will be leading his troops against the Aussies from June 16 (1st Test at Edgbaston).

But before that, England will play a one-off Test match against Ireland, which starts on June 1. It is being viewed as a preparatory match and Stokes will be keen to return to full fitness before that.