Two of the finest all-rounders in the game, Ravindra Jadeja and Ben Stokes will be playing for the same team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season. While Jadeja has been an ever-present star in the CSK roster, Stokes was roped in during the auction ahead of the 16th edition of the T20 league. In a training session, a picture of the two stalwarts sitting together went viral, with fans getting a feeling as if footballers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are in the same team.
The Super Kings shared the picture on Twitter, setting the micro-blogging website on fire, giving many fans Ronaldo and Messi vibes.
Here's how fans reacted:
Some fans even see Stokes as a future captaincy candidate, considering MS Dhoni is expected to leave the franchise in a season or two. Though Ravindra Jadeja was given the team's baton last season, he relinquished the responsibility having struggled both as a leader and a player.
In the IPL 2023 auction, Chennai engaged in a bidding war with PBKS for Curran but opted out of the race when the bid crossed 15.25 Cr. However, CSK successfully acquired the services of England Test skipper Stokes at a whopping price of Rs. 16.25 Cr.
If Dhoni decides to move on from the franchise as a player after this season, Stokes could be given the responsibility considering how well he has done as England's captain in the Test format, playing an attractive brand of cricket.
Apart from Stokes, CSK also bought Ajinkya Rahane at a base price of Rs 50 lakh. Earlier, Dhoni, Stokes, and Rahane had played together for Rising Pune Supergiants in IPL 2017.