Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming has defended the intent shown by MS Dhoni during their loss against the Delhi Capitals on Saturday, April 5. Dhoni scored 30 off 26 balls against Delhi at Chepauk.
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00:00Yeah, it's been a little bit difficult. Again, today we looked to shore up the top, bringing
00:06Conway back, but we just lost too many wickets, so it was a tough watch. It's a score that's
00:14probably around par, just above, and that's been the nature of our tournament so far.
00:19We haven't been too far away with the ball, but just unable to chase it down. It's a tough
00:25watch. We're certainly trying to get the combination right based on the quantity of runs we want
00:31at the top. We've had a dart with Tripathi with a bit of a licence, so we went back to
00:36looking for a bit more solidity, but again, it didn't work. It's only one game, but we'll
00:41just keep trying to get it right.
00:43Yeah, yeah, whatever. You're not doing something while it concerns me. That's the job. So we're
00:48looking to find the formula that will get us over the line. We're certainly well aware
00:53of that chasing stat. We are focusing still very hard on bowling-wise to restrict teams
01:00below that, but we do need to be better with the bat. There's no doubt about it. We need
01:04to have one or two players in form, predominantly the top three or four, and you look at the
01:09teams that are going well, you'll see that the majority of the runs are getting scored
01:12through there, through the top four. So we need a bit more production there, and that
01:16then allows the more power hitters or the players to finish off, to come in at the right
01:22spots. We're having to introduce players just not quite at the right time, and we've
01:28got Dubé as well, who's close, but just not quite getting the job done. So there are thereabouts,
01:34but sort of six to 20 to 15 run losses are annoying, yes.
01:41Steven, all of a sudden there are a lot of speculations about Dennis Looney's future in CSK, especially with his parents sitting there and watching. Would you like to put an end to that?
01:55No, that's not my role to put an end to it. I have no idea. I'm just enjoying working
02:01with him still. He's still going strong. I don't even ask these days, you guys are
02:10the ones that ask.
02:11You didn't get that one big over from 11-17, so the required run rate was 18-19. What was
02:27the reason? Was it damage, limitation or taking it as deep?
02:31No, the intent was that when he went out, a combination of a ball well, I think the
02:35ball started to grip a little bit more. We understood it was going to be good for the
02:38first half and then gradually get slower. So we were keen to bat and then take pace
02:44with the ball. They did it really well. Vijay Shankar struggled to get timing all the way
02:49through his innings. But that period from 12-16 was difficult for all. It was tough
02:55to watch and certainly tough to be out there. So the game was just slipping away. Even with
03:03intent and different methods to do it, it was just too big a scale.
03:07Is the team lacking to score in power playovers?
03:13Three down, which hurts. Teams have bowled well at us but we just haven't really got
03:19underway and that's different individuals at different times. So the question of Rutaraj,
03:25whether he goes back to open, will be one that we keep looking at. But the players that
03:29we had today, there's two quality international players that we put in to do that job. So
03:35we'll keep looking at that and make sure we are trying everything that we've got and
03:40training that way as well. But at the moment, it's only four games in, but at the moment
03:44we haven't got the run production that we want.
03:48Teams batting second seem to be losing on it. You have to change the approach or something.
03:53They seem to be in a rush to quickly get the score.
03:57We would have batted first today but we lost a toss. So that made it tough. You can't
04:02just go out and bat if we lose a toss. We would have loved to have batted. But it's
04:05a good point. It's a good point. We're not chasing well. We are succumbing to pressure.
04:11We're not getting partnerships at the top. So whenever you're chasing, ideally you get
04:15a good start at the top and then you're able to maintain the run rate that's close enough
04:22or get in a position where your power hitters can come out and finish. So we're a little
04:26bit behind the game after average power plays.
04:32You spoke about the balance in the team. Rachin started particularly well in the first game
04:36on a difficult pitch and in that little cameo he actually looked pretty good. There have
04:41been patches of play which have looked good, but how do you put it together and arrive
04:45at the right balance? Because you've used about seven players, so how do you arrive
04:50at the right balance?
04:52That is the conundrum at the moment. To get more solidity at the top, we have to remove
04:59an overseas player. So we're grappling just with the combination that we need. When it
05:04doesn't go right, we pore over it and analyse that to see if it was the right call. We felt
05:11that our batting in the power plays had been below par and going too hard was probably
05:16not the way, particularly on our wicket, which is a little bit tricky. So we're looking just
05:20to settle that with guys that have been in good form and have done it before. So that's
05:24the theory behind that and that's one we'll possibly continue with. But it just comes
05:28down to run production. You can have all the tactics you like, but if you've got a couple
05:32of players in form, they can cover for others. But at the moment, we're just not quite getting
05:40the big individual scores we need so that the cameos can do their part. We're getting
05:47starts but not quite enough.
05:50In IPL 2025, are the leagues using young players like Alphard players? They are doing very well. Will CSKA do the same pattern?
05:59Yeah, KL Rahul is not that young and he played the match-winning innings today. He was very
06:04good. So again, you know I'm a fan of experience. Big players traditionally will stand up during
06:10the tournament and when they do that, younger players can play the cameos. We've backed
06:15experience over the years and it's done us pretty well. We don't like young players but
06:20we like consistency and the ability to problem-solve and more experienced players tend to be able
06:27to do that more often. If you look at the games that have been played so far, there's
06:32usually a pretty steady hand with Battle Bull that's providing the leadership and the young
06:38players are doing bits and pieces here and there, which is good.