Legendary Australia opener Matthew Hayden feels that Ben Stokes has a big opportunity to live up to his hype and become an X-factor for his new IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings. The English all-rounder hit the pay dirt in IPL 2023 mini-auction and was sold for a whopping INR 16.25 crore. Stokes gave a miss to IPL 2022 and played only one match in the 2021 edition.
Hayden played in three seasons of IPL as he scored 1107 runs for Chennai Super Kings in 32 matches at an average of 36.90.
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The veteran opener suggested that Stokes has never realised his potential in the Indian Premier League but he has a chance to be the X-factor this season for four-time champions CSK under the leadership of legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
“Stokes will be the X factor for CSK who has never realised his potential in the IPL and he is one of those players and we see him play all over the world. Now, under a CSK regime where it’s all about cricket I think that he’s got a big chance to be the X factor this season,” said Hayden during an interaction on Star Sports.
Stokes has played 43 IPL matches and scored 920 runs at an average of 25.56 including two centuries. While he claimed 28 scalps in the cash-rich league.
While Hayden said that the return of Jadeja’s form is a good sign for the franchise and he will be the player to watch out for and can drive CSK towards success this season.
“For me the player to watch out for is always Jadeja. He is a quality all-rounder. CSK have got some world-class all-rounders, including who they’ve signed now – Ben Stokes. But with Jaddu at the best of his best, he can really drive a great outcome for CSK, this season,” said Hayden.
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Jadeja was the franchise’s highest-paid retention in the 2022 edition. The all-rounder, however, failed to match the expectations. In his 10 appearances last season, the southpaw managed to accumulate just 116 runs at a below-par average of 19.33, while picking up only 5 wickets in total.
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