'Ben, You're Not New...': MS Dhoni’s Gesture to Welcome Ben Stokes to CSK Camp is Pure Gold - WATCH

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) aim to start afresh in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as they begin their campaign against reigning champions Gujarat Titans on Friday night in Ahmedabad. The fans are eagerly waiting to see a mega reunion of MS Dhoni and all-rounder Ben Stokes in the tournament. Back in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, both played together for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiants and produced some phenomenal results. Six years later, the two superstars of the game will be back together but under the CSK banner.

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Prior to their opening game against GT, the franchise organised an in-house event, called ‘An Evening with Super Kings’ in which skipper MS Dhoni welcomed all the new players of the team who were picked up in the mini players’ auction last year. Stokes, who was roped in for a whopping amount of ₹16.25 crore, was one of the players who received a warm welcome from the CSK skipper and former BCCI chief and N Srinivasan.

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“I would like to welcome all the new players. Ben, I know you are not new, but you are new for CSK so please, I request you to come on stage," Dhoni said while welcoming the English all-rounder.

All the newcomers were welcomed to the stage and handed their CSK jerseys. While Stokes got his jersey no. 55, Shaik Rasheed received No. 66 and Ajinkya Rahane No. 21. The likes of Ajay Mandal and Nishant Sindhu were given their respective jerseys by CEO Kasi Viswanathan and coach Stephen Fleming respectively.

Here is the full list of newcomers in the CSK camp:

1. Ajinkya Rahane (India) – INR 50 lakh
2. Ben Stokes (England) – INR 16.25 crore
3. Nishant Sindhu (India) – INR 60 lakh
4. Shaik Rasheed (India) – INR 20 lakh
5. Kyle Jamieson (New Zealand) – INR 1 crore
6. Ajay Mandal (India) – INR 20 lakh
7. Bhagath Varma (India) – INR 20 lakh

List of retained players:

MS Dhoni, Devon Conway, Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chowdhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Chahar, Prashant Solanki and Maheesh Theekshana.

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