Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming acknowledged the efforts of his team's young opener Ruturaj Gaikwad while also battling mix emotions as they've posted successive victories after being out of the playoffs race.
In a close-fought encounter, CSK beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by six wickets in Dubai on Thursday (October 29), their fifth win of the competition but in 13 matches. A disastrous run at the start of the tournament leaving the three-time champions with no hope of a top-four finish, their first such end to a season in IPL history.
Read Also: MS Dhoni hails Ruturaj Gaikwad for his match-winning knock against KKR
"Mixed reactions really, when you're out of the competition, you're not as nervous. You're surely disappointed to watch it all unfold but still very pleased to get the win," said Fleming at the post-match press conference, as quoted by PTI.
The coach was effusive in praise for Gaikwad, calling him the "right player" for CSK to take forward from an otherwise uninspiring campaign. Gaikwad played a fantastic knock of 72 from 53 balls to help CSK get past KKR's 172/5.
"He has done well in the last couple of games. We're happy that he's taken the opportunity. We look back at the missed opportunities when he got COVID-19. He missed out the pre-season, he came back after about 4-5 weeks in isolation," Fleming said.
"We tried to get him involved but he was a long way from being ready. So we're just happy now to create the opportunity and he has shown us that he's the right player," he added. "He has got lovely timing, a very fluent player. It allows him to hit the ball in the gaps, a lot of power for a small guy."
"His net sessions in Chennai before we arrived here were outstanding and we're disappointed that he had to miss the first two or three weeks with us."
Apart from Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu (38) and Ravindra Jadeja (31*) also batted very well for CSK. In the bowling department as well, Jadeja had (1/20) had one of his better outings. Sam Curran (0/21) was just as economical while Lungi Ngidi (2/34) bagged two wickets.
Fleming, though, felt the win should've been smoother on a wicket playing fine in the second half where they needed 10 off the final over and it took consecutive sixes from Jadeja to take them through.
"We were playing well, certainly we lost wickets and partnership of (Ambati) Rayudu and Ruturaj. But we felt we got ourselves in a position where we were probably the favourites to win...There was a little bit of luck and few twists for us to get over the line," he said.
The brilliant cameo wasn't the first that Jadeja has played this season. The left-hander once again showed an improved range against fast bowling, taking his tally to 232 at a strike-rate of 171.85 in a season where even though as a bowler he hasn't shined the brightest.
"He's very free (in his batting). He's tried to play too smart but he's now playing free. He trains very hard, he's hitting a lot of balls and that's paying off. His finishing in the middle to later parts of the tournament has been outstanding," Fleming said.
CSK play Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in their last match of the competition on Sunday (November 1) in Abu Dhabi.
