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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has stated that talismanic all-rounder Ben Stokes has suffered another fitness setback and could be out of action for one more week.
CSK purchased England all-rounder Stokes for a whopping ₹16.25 crore at the IPL 2023 player auction despite concerns over his fitness. The 31-year-old has only played two matches for Chennai in the ongoing IPL. He scored seven against Gujarat Titans (GT) and eight versus Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
The versatile cricketer was subsequently ruled out for the next few games due to a toe injury. At a press conference following Chennai’s seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Fleming provided a fitness update on Stokes. He said:
“He had another little setback yesterday, so he will probably be a few days or a week away. This is a challenge but the team is playing well. The first thing is to get him fit and then if we have a headache around selection… The nature of the IPL is that things happen.
“Our priority is to get him fit. At the moment, he’s not quite ready. But as soon as he is, we’ll worry about the next part.”
Stokes has played 45 matches in his IPL career, scoring 935 runs at an average of 24.61 and a strike rate of 133.95, with two hundreds and as many fifties. With the ball, he has picked up 28 wickets at an average of 35.43.
“Theekshana is skillful and subtle” - Fleming
During the press conference, CSK coach Fleming was also asked for his thoughts on young Sri Lankan off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana. Describing him as skillful, the Kiwi legend commented:
“Theekshana is very skillful and very subtle with his skills. He's always coming at a player, so you can’t get a rhythm as a hitter. His deception is his change of pace and that just makes hitters check themselves at times.
“He did very well to get that wicket [Aiden Markram]; good catch by MS [Dhoni]. He is working himself into form. He’s bowling well, but in the first couple of outings, he was trying to find his pace. It was a good day for him and some learning for us.”
After struggling for rhythm in his first two matches of IPL 2023, Theekshana impressed on Friday against SRH, registering figures of 1/27.
