'I know you are not new, but you are...' - MS Dhoni addresses Ben Stokes ahead of Chennai's first match against Gujarat in Indian T20 League 2023

Chennai, under the captaincy of former legendary Indian skipper MS Dhoni, is set to take on the defending champions Gujarat in the tournament opener of the Indian T20 League 2023. Both teams will play this match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad today at 7.30 pm.

Ahead of the match, the Chennai management organized a ceremony to welcome new players that they bought in the mini-auction of the 16^th edition of the Indian T20 League 2023. Meanwhile, the skipper MS Dhoni came up with a special address to the star England all-rounder Ben Stokes who will be playing first time for Chennai in the tournament.

Dhoni welcomed the star all-rounder and England Test skipper, while welcoming all the new players, he also addressed the 31-year-old as a new player; not in general but new to the Chennai camp.

"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," said Dhoni standing alongside N Srinivasan while inviting Stokes on the stage.

Here’s the video:

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Here’s a look at the Chennai squad ahead of the tournament opener against Gujarat:

MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma, and Sisanda Magala.

Here’s a look at the Gujarat squad for the Indian T20 League 2023:

Hardik Pandya (C), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Kane Williamson, Odean Smith, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little, and Mohit Sharma.