Ben Stokes to play as specialist batter at start of IPL 2023 due to knee injury

England Test captain Ben Stokes will be available only as a specialist batter for Chennai Super Kings in the early stages of the Indian Premier League 2023The star allrounder who was picked by the fourtime IPL champions for Rs 1625 crore during the auction held in December last year arrived in India last week and has been training for the upcoming season starting March 31A report in ESPNCricinfo said Stokes who has played for Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiant in the past will likely play as a specialist batter initially to manage his knee injury for which he has taken a cortisone injection an antiinflammation medicineAlso Read Enjoyment bigger than disappointment of losing Ben Stokes after Eng lose by 1 runThe 31yearold has been hampered by recurring injuries to his left knee with the most recent flareup happening during Englands tour of New Zealand Stokes bowled only nine overs across two Tests and batted with a lot of discomfort on the final day of the second Test in WellingtonTerming the injury very frustrating Stokes said he hoped to get into a position that I feel like I dont have to worry about my knee anymore with England set to host Australia for the Ashes this year in JuneCSK batting coach Michael Hussey confirmed Stokes might not bowl at the start of the IPLMy understanding is hes 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 HusseyThe physios from Chennai CSK and ECB England and Wales Cricket Board are working pretty closely together My understanding is he wont be bowling much at all in the first few games of the tournament it might be a few weeks Im not 10037 sure but we will hopefully get him bowling at some stage in the tournament Hussey addedWith the homeandaway format returning in IPL 2023 CSK are set to play in front of their fans at the Chinnaswamy Stadium Hussey hoped the setup brings the best out of StokesThe ground is amazing new stands up full capacity The first home game the atmosphere is going to be out of this world I cant wait and Im sure Stokesy is going to absolutely love it Thats the thing with those big players they generally like a big stage and perform their best on it Once he gets out there in Chepauk Stadium in front of an unbelievably loud crowd I hope its going to bring out the best in him Hussey saidHussey added that Stokes had been hitting the ball really well since arriving in India predicting that he would be huge to the franchises bid to reach the playoffs particularly if we can get him bowling having those allrounders is really importantThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever