"First thing is him being..."- Stephen Fleming drops a major hint on Stokes' comeback in team
Chennai Super Kings have had a brilliant start to the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League. After six games, they are sitting in third place with four wins, two defeats, and six points with a NRR of +0.355. But despite a good performance, CSK is going through some other issues.
Those issues are related to the injuries to their key players. The biggest name on the injury list is Ben Stokes. The English all-rounder played a few games at the start but then sustained an injury, which ruled him out of the competition for two weeks.
Chennai spent a whopping INR 16.25 crore to acquire him for the squad. He played his first two games and registered scores of 7 and 8, then got injured. He was expected to return after this week, but now CSK head coach Stephen Fleming has shared a big update on Stokes's fitness.
In an interaction after the win against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday, Fleming said, "Stokes had another little setback yesterday, so he’s probably a few days or a week away at least. This is a challenge. The first thing is him being fit and then if we have a headache around selection. At the moment, he’s not quite ready. But as soon as he is, we’ll worry about the next part."
Chennai has some other players who are stepping in when the team requires it. They have had four different players win "Man of the Match awards in the four wins they have, which reflects that everyone is contributing and the team is not depending on a few individuals.
CSK will now face the two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders in their next game. It will be the second game of the double header on Sunday, which will take place at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. KKR is coming off three consecutive defeats. Thus, CSK has a good chance to register yet another win.