As defeat to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Abu Dhabi on Monday (October 19) put three-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on the verge of their first league-stage elimination, head coach Stephen Fleming didn't hesitate saying the ageing squad may have finally "run out of juice".
There was a sense of lost hope in Fleming's words as he spoke in the aftermath of a seven-wicket mauling at the hands of Royals after posting just 125/5 batting first, an innings where similar problems held back the side.
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"It's fair to say looking at the table now that this team may have run out of juice," Fleming said at the post-match presser, as quoted by Cricbuzz, after CSK's seventh loss in ten outings in IPL 2020.
"If you're looking at the three-year cycle - we won the first year; lost off the last ball last year; and we always thought that the third year with an ageing squad would be difficult. And Dubai [UAE] has challenged us with a whole new set of requirements," he added.
Ravindra Jadeja (35) looked the most or truth be told, the only free-flowing run-maker on the day for his side, with the promotion of Sam Curran (22) not yielding the sort of results expected and veterans Faf du Plessis (10) and Shane Watson (8) failing. Captain MS Dhoni (28) didn't find life easy either and to add to CSK's misery, got run-out just when he was looking to shift gears.
In the second half, on a surface where RR's leg-spinners, Rahul Tewatia (1/18) and Shreyas Gopal (1/14), didn't let the opposition batsmen breathe, CSK didn't trust their ones as much.
Dhoni had pacers Deepak Chahar (2/18) and Josh Hazlewood (1/19) going economical earlier in the innings and later explained that the rationale behind employing Jadeja (0/11) and Piyush Chawla (0/32) for less than 5 overs combine was that the surface played truer in the second innings.
Overall, it was a performance reflective of CSK at the moment, struggling in all departments, with the thought outside that they're nearing the end of a mighty successful era looming large and the idea of a complete revamp being circulated for the future.
There is still a mathematical chance this season if CSK win all their remaining games and other results do go their way as well. But Fleming knows very well where his team stand.
"I think there's an outside chance that we can possibly get through, but when you're relying on other results and a change of form for your own team, it's very hard to be upbeat and positive," he signed off.
