‘I Played a Little Bit of a John Terry Role Winning The IPL’: Ben Stokes

The 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League concluded earlier this week and Chennai Super Kings emerged as the champions as they outclassed Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat Titans in the summit clash. CSK started the season on a wrong note but bounced back after losing the opening match and played consistent cricket to finish second after the league stage. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni managed his resources quite well despite the injury crises in the camp. CSK bought star English all-rounder Ben Stokes for a whopping INR 16.25 crore but he played just a couple of matches and struggled with his injury throughout the tournament.

Stokes was elated after his franchise won the mega title as he suggested he played the role of John Terry in the side-winning IPL.

Also Read | ‘Brendon McCullum Wouldn’t Want to Make Attention About Himself’: Daniel Vettori on England’s ‘Bazball’

“I played a little bit of a John Terry role winning the IPL,” the all-rounder joked during a press conference at Lord’s a couple of days after Chennai Super Kings won IPL 2023. Stokes compared his role to England’s legendary defender who won the Champions League trophy in 2012 with Chelsea despite missing the final against Bayern Munich due to suspension.

The England Test captain further said that he wanted to be involved on the field for CSK in IPL 2023 and revealed how he turned the disappointing situation into a positive one.

“I think I would much rather have been playing,” Stokes said. “I’ve then seen that as an opportunity to train as opposed to playing and then topping yourself up as the tournament goes along. Once you get into the tournament it’s like play, travel, all that kind of stuff. So, I was actually able to turn a disappointing situation into a positive one because I was able to concentrate on properly being able to train, whether that be technical stuff with the bat or fitness stuff, stuff in the gym and being able to concentrate on something else.

ALSO READ | ‘Actually Felt Disrespected in The way That…’: David Warner Slams CA Over Leadership Ban Row

Stokes said it was a blessing in disguise for him.

“And that was a really good way to get through that long period of having something else to focus on, as opposed to being disappointed I wasn’t playing. So looking back on it, you might say it’s disappointing to only play two games but I was able to then do something else. Sitting here today, I’m actually thinking it could have been a blessing in disguise – every cloud has a silver lining,” said Stokes.