Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming on Sunday expressed disappointment about his team’s lack of competition in Friday’s eight-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL at home.
“I think the disappointing aspect particularly in the last game was the lack of competition we put up, and that hurt a lot. There’s certainly been a lot of internal soul-searching, but also a lot of work around what we need to do. It’s important that we put out a performance that is representative of the proud franchise that we are,” he said on the eve of CSK’s match against Lucknow Super Giants here.
Acknowledging M.S. Dhoni’s prominent influence on the team, he clarified that Dhoni “hasn’t got a magic wand” to instantly fix things.
“It’s a case of us working very hard, along with MS, to turn it around. Certainly, in both of our cricketing careers, we’ve been in situations that require a lot of energy, and we’ve got to make sure that the energy is put in the right place. Often, you can get consumed with things that actually don’t matter. So, drawing it all down and just making sure we’re concentrating on the right things has probably been the key for the last couple of days,” he said.
Finally, Fleming addressed Nicholas Pooran’s threat. “It (Pooran’s form) is very threatening. I think he’s the best (T20) player in the world at the moment by some distance. He’s consistent, powerful, and a real threat. To get him out and keep him in check, will be a big part of winning the game tomorrow (Monday).”
Published – April 13, 2025 07:51 pm IST
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