When England Test captain Ben Stokes was bought for INR 16.25 crore at the mini-auction in December last year for IPL 2023 by Chennai Super Kings (CSK), it sparked a discussion whether it was a move from MS Dhoni to pick his successor. Now Moeen Ali has cleared all doubts regarding this matter. Moeen stated that Stokes’ impressive record does make him a strong candidate to replace Dhoni, but hinted that the move might not come yet.
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“He’s really enjoying himself,” Moeen said of Stokes on the eve of CSK’s match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede. “CSK is the type of franchise where you come here and you do tend to enjoy yourself and really love playing for this franchise. He’s settled in really well. He’s a big part of the team with his experience.”
When further asked whether the England Test captain is part of CSK’s leadership group, Moeen added: “There’s no real such leadership group: you have the captain and the coaches, and they talk. If Dhoni wants Ben Stokes’ advice, or a chat with him, it’s a very open environment in that changing room.“
“I think there’s a chance [that Stokes succeeds Dhoni]; of course there’s a chance, because he’s obviously done really well in Test cricket,” Moeen said. “But MS is still obviously in charge and he’s going to be captain for a while. We have some other guys as well: Ruturaj is a fantastic player with a good head on his shoulders, so it depends on what the franchise wants,” He added
IPL 2023 is likely to be the last IPL season for MS Dhoni and Ben Stokes or Ruturaj Gaikwad is the frontrunner to take over CSK’s captaincy duties from next season onwards.