Stephen Fleming, the head coach of Chennai Super Kings said that the Chepauk surface was a tough one to bat on from the first delivery but he also admitted that the team could have performed better against Mumbai Indians in the Qualifier 1 of the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) where they lost by six-wicket on Tuesday. However, he shared his thoughts in the post-match press conference.
“Today right from ball one it was tricky throughout. So you are asking the batters, you want them to be positive, you want them to play a nice brand of cricket but you need a little bit of luck & a lot of skill,” Fleming said.
“We are not creating enough luck & we are probably not skillful with our decision making at the moment or in these conditions. It’s been a tough season for our batters, certainly at home & today was no different,” Flemming added.
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At one point, the run-chase was looking tough. However, Suryakumar Yadav played a crucial knock for Mumbai, scoring a 54-ball 71 and helped his team to reach the final. Fleming praised his batting as well as shared his thoughts when Murali Vijay dropped him on 11.
“Yadav played an outstanding knock. We had an opportunity to get rid of him early as well. I thought we had enough runs in a pressure situation on that surface to create chances to win. We just had to be good enough in the field and stay patient and bowl enough balls that would create doubts in their minds. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t get him early and then there was a nice partnership that they had that just pushed them on enough,” he expressed.
Flemming, however, praised Mumbai squad and said he would love to play against them once again in the final. Meanwhile, CSK will have to win the game against the winner of eliminator to take on Mumbai in the final.
“They are a good side, they are confident & they are playing well. They are putting us under pressure and they are playing a nice brand of cricket even in our conditions. Mumbai have got some players who have become more suited to that and they’ve got a pretty good record in Chennai. So they do adjust pretty well. They are in form; they have got a nice, balanced side so they are a good challenge. When you come up against a side like that, it can always be 50-50 & so far they have had their way. We love to have another go at it against them,” he further added.
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The final will be played on May 12 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
