Stokes, Jamieson, Pretorious among players released by CSK ahead of IPL 2024

Ambati Rayadu, who retired from IPL after the 2023 title win, has also been released.

New Delhi: England all-rounder Ben Stokes, New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson and South African all-rounder Dwaine Pretorious are among the players released by champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) next year.

Stokes, 32, became a part of the Super Kings ahead of the successful IPL 2023. He was brought by CSK in the auction last year for Rs 16.25 crores. But he played only two matches, scoring 15 runs with the best score of eight runs. He could not get any wickets. The all-rounder missed the majority of the season due to fitness issues.

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Stokes will miss the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) so as to manage his workload and fitness to play the five-Test series against India ahead of the tournament and then the ICC T20 World Cup in June.

Ambati Rayadu, who retired from IPL after the 2023 title win, has also been released.

Also, South African bowlers Sisanda Magala, and Indian players K Bhagath Varma, Subhranshu Senapati and Akash Singh have also been released by the franchise, as per a statement from the team.

Jamieson was picked by the Super Kings in the IPL 2023 player auction but missed the season due to injury. South African pacer Magala was his replacement.

Left-arm pacer Akash was the replacement for Mukesh Choudhary in IPL 2023. Bhagath Varma joined the Super Kings in 2021 while Senapati was picked ahead of IPL 2022.

CSK has retained its top players like NZ batter Devon Conway, England all-rounder Moeen Ali, skipper MS Dhoni, young batter Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sri Lankan stars Matheesha Pathirana and Maheesh Theekshana etc. They will be heading into the IPL auction with a purse of Rs 32.1 crores.

Released players: Ben Stokes, Dwaine Pretorius, Bhagath Varma, Subhranshu Senapati, Ambati Rayudu (Retired), Akash Singh, Kyle Jamieson and Sisanda Magala.

Players retained in the squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Ajinkya Rahane, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary, Mitchell Santner, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, Prashant Solanki, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Ajay Mandal.