Ben Stokes makes comparison with Chelsea’s John Terry

Chennai Super Kings rewrote history as they defeated Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2023 final. Under MS Dhoni’s leadership, it was the fifth title that Chennai won in the tournament. One of the biggest names in Chennai’s lineup was of English all-rounder Ben Stokes.

Chennai roped in Stokes for a whopping INR 16.25 crore, however, the English all-rounder’s season was riddled with injuries. The 31-year-old played just two matches, where he scored 15 runs and failed to take any wickets. However, despite Stokes’ absence, Chennai went on to win the IPL 2023.

Talking about his experience in the 16th edition of the tournament, Stokes compared his role in Chennai to that of football legend John Terry. He referred to the 2012 UEFA Champions League final, when Terry lifted the trophy in the jersey despite being suspended.

“I played a little bit of a John Terry role in winning the IPL,” Ben Stokes was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. Sustaining an injury and missing the majority of the IPL, Ben Stokes was deemed fit for the one-off Test against Ireland and for the upcoming Ashes series, which is scheduled to begin from June 16.

I don’t need much bowling: Ben Stokes

Furthermore, Stokes also opined about limiting his bowling in Test cricket. He also revealed that he took cues from veteran English pacer James Anderson in limiting his overs.

“Before I didn’t have to worry about that, I could just bowl and bowl and bowl and turn up pretty fresh. Now I’m probably not able to do that, so in between games is probably the most important bit of managing anything correctly,” Stokes said.

“The thing about me is that I don’t need much bowling for the rest of my body to tick over. I can have quite a lot of time off and then build up quite quickly. It’s not doom and gloom if I do or don’t bowl in this game,” he added.