Soon after Chennai Super Kings faced their third defeat in the last four games, head coach Stephen Fleming opened up on what went wrong for the defending champions. Fleming said that it was the lack of consistency in the nature of pitches seen at Chepauk as well. Already this season, high-scoring matches have been seen as well. Against PBKS, it was a red-soil track that had enough bounce also. Fleming also congratulated the opposition for their clinical display as well.
“We have spoken about the unpredictability of wickets (in Chepauk),” said Stephen Fleming at the post-match press conference. “Today the first ball bounced and hit Jinks (Rahane) in the helmet. Just trying to get a gauge on how it will play. Unfortunately we’re batting first a lot, which makes it difficult to gauge what a competitive score is. We got a couple of 200s, so that was on the mind today but it was a bit sticky. What was a good start in the first six overs then became difficult… We tried with the lefties, obviously Dube and then Jadeja was also an aggressive role which didn’t work, and Rizvi as well. We just couldn’t get anything through the middle.”
Put into bat, CSK failed to post a competitive score on a slowing surface and later on the dew factor helped Punjab Kings’ run chase. The turning point of the game was CSK’s middle-overs slow down as they went from 55/0 in the PowerPlay to 90/3 by the 14th over with the PBKS spinners bowling amazingly.
“Dube was a big part of that (six-hitting) and losing him today with their spinners was a great wicket for them. In terms of a left-arm spinner and a leg-spinner, it was a great matchup for Dube. We have seen him do really well this season but they won that one nicely and that then created pressure on our ability to continue to hit sixes and it was tough. Another thing is that it is a biggish ground, so if there is any kind of assistance, it’s hard square-wise to get boundaries. And they bowled well, they protected it well. Made it difficult for us,” Fleming said.
However, CSK’s innings saw just four sixes hit in total, all of which came after the 16-over whereas the first six overs saw a flurry of boundaries. Dube’s first-ball duck also cost CSK’s hopes of taking the game on in the middle overs as well.
“They bowled really well, they got good purchase and held onto it,” Fleming said. “So three good factors. We just got stifled through the middle, which prevented us from getting a score of, 180? I don’t think that would have been enough. There is a small window where the ball is dry and sticks in the wicket. Again it gets tricky to hold the ball and execute variations. They did the job well, they were aggressive enough and we were a bit off as well. It is a disappointing day, but it’s part of the IPL and we were on the wrong side of it. We were inaccurate with the bat and ball to compete.”
“I thought he (Rahane) was good today. He’s been probably a bit too aggressive in what he wants to do. Keep in mind, we’re batting on wickets here that we don’t know how they are gonna play. So we got to take a bit of a pause to see what a good score is. If you are 3 for 30, the game is pretty much over. We have gotten an assessment period which we want those two to do. Today was very good, 55 for no loss on that wicket was spot on. He looked good. It’s the next phase, (to ensure that) his hitting that was so good last year, is more crisp. It’s not for lack of intent. In fact, he has doubled up on intent. We’re fine with Jinks and the role he plays,” he further added.
For a team that believes in a settled batting order and clear roles within the group, CSK’s batting order shuffling through this season made headlines. Meanwhile, the batting promotions of Dube and Jadeja were on the money but the addition of Sameer Rizvi as the impact batter was not effective.
“If you get through the first six overs and then spinners come on, it’s the perfect time for him (Dube) to come on. Next thing is with the left-right, we also have Jadeja who has been given a positive role but they bowled well. Rizvi one, maybe we will discuss a bit and go the other way around. Again he is positive, his ability to hit sixes has been good. But there is a temperament part of it that young players need to learn. The casualty is Mitchell going down the order. What we learnt in the first part of the tournament is that if it get too low, there are other players like Moeen and MS who can push the game along. The window closed there, but it was more about getting our tactics right, which was to break their spinners up but they won that competition,” he added.
“Deepak Chahar doesn’t look good. The initial feeling wasn’t good, now we’re hoping for positive news when the physio and doctor have a look. Sri Lankan boys are off for their visas, we’re hoping that their process is smooth and we get them back for the next game up north. Gleeson was good, was one of the positives. Losing Fizz (after the next game) is a blow, there is a lot going on, isn’t it? Tushar has got a bit of flu going on, so we missed him today. So we had to make some changes, but that’s part of it. We have got resources, they just haven’t got gametime to be comfortable with their roles,” Stephen Fleming concluded.
