Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming has lashed out at his batsmen for heavily relying on Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni to patch things up in the middle overs after his team’s 1-run defeat in an IPL 2019 match at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday, 21st April.
At the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the table topper CSK fell just one run short against RCB, thanks to their top-order collapse, though, Dhoni’s 84* off 48 balls and Rayudu's 29 along with his handy partnership of 55 runs for the fifth wicket with his Captain brought the visitors back into the game.
However, Dhoni failed to connect the last ball, as Parthiv Patel’s direct-hit ran Shardul Thakur out, eventually brought a one-run victory for the RCB on Sunday -which showed the overdependency of their captain and Rayudu in the tournament on many occasions, and Fleming believes that CSK could not defend the IPL title if they continue depending heavily on the two in the ongoing cash-rich T20 event.
Fleming told media at the post-match press conference, “What is happening is that we’re relying too heavily on Dhoni and Rayudu to patch things up and we won’t win the competition if that continues.”
He continued, “We’re bordering on being a little bit reckless, trying to find that form. And today (Sunday) was an example where, instead of playing sensible cricket when we crossed the line, we were being a little bit reckless. That just comes from guys trying to find form and do the job. We’ve got a very talented batting order that has been inconsistent through the year. We haven’t been able to string partnerships or individual scores together this year.”
The coach signed off by saying, “So, whilst we’ve been able to get seven wins, we’re by no means happy with the way we have achieved them. Of course, we’re happy to be getting over the line but we’d also like some form to get back into that top order.”
(With Cricketnext Inputs)
