Dubai: After Chennai Super Kings registered their second victory in the Indian Premier League against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday (October 4), head coach Stephen Fleming said, CSK’s ‘reticent’ approach to change when faced with poor results has been the key to its success over the years.
After winning the toss Kings XI Punjab posted 178/4 in 20 overs. In reply, CSK won the game by 10 wickets in 17.4 overs led by Shane Watson, who scored 83. Another thing lauded highly was Watson’s partnership with Faf du Plessis who scored 87.
“I think it helps as players know they get more opportunities…We are reticent to changing the team other than realising the areas that we are not happy with. Also you are not sure if that change will help or not,” Fleming said in his post-match press conference.
“We try and improve and if players are doing the right thing we will back them as long and even longer than possible,” he also said what has been his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s philosophy over a decade now.
“That’s the strength of an experienced player. If Shane had been struggling in the nets, then it would have been a concern but he was solid. It was a matter of time, little bit of fortune and some good positive thoughts from him. Shane, if he gets on a roll, will be very important to us,” he added.
Fleming also said their 10-wicket win can cover a lot of problem in the team’s performance but CSK are far from being at their best in what is a marathon tournament.
“Performances like that cover up a lot of things but we are by no means where we want to be. Faf has been in great form but if other teams find some form, it makes us a lot more competitive,” the coach said.
Fleming also felt that the turning point of the game was the period between the 17th and the 20th over in the KXIP innings when they scored only 42. “Key for me was overs 17 to 20 where they went for 40 (odd), which could have been a lot more than that. Other games are going for high numbers. We kept them to 42 and that was very pleasing,” Fleming said.
“It’s important for the individual as they shouldn’t get too defensive. You have to be very courageous when things aren’t going your way, sometimes bowlers can be too good so there is so much to consider but attitude is something that you can control so that we can provide some selection security,” he concluded.
