Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had been dealt a blow when Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood pulled out of the IPL 2021 tournament citing bubble fatigue. CSK named Jason Behrendorff as his replacement while having Lungi Ngidi as the other out and out overseas pace bowler.
In their first match, CSK missed their overseas pacers the most as they were hammered badly by Delhi Capitals’ Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw while defending 188 runs. CSK lost the match by 7 wickets with Dhawan and Shaw both scoring scorching half-centuries.
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CSK will now face Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 16, but coach Stephen Fleming had some bad news about the availability of Jason Behrendorff and Lungi Ngidi. He confirmed that both Behrendorff and Ngidi will not be available for the next match as well.
“(Lungi) Ngidi won’t be available. He won’t be arriving in time for the next game. So losing Josh Hazlewood, which was the plan to have him available for these games, is a blow simply as an option up front,” Fleming said in the post-match press conference.
“Ngidi will be arriving soon. (Jason) Behrendorff would obviously be following that. Its (bowling) an area that we are probably short on. But we still look at the Indian bowlers and we have international bowler Sam Curran and probably expect a little bit more,” he added.
Fleming pointed out that Mumbai Indians also struggled to adapt to Chennai conditions in the tournament opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday and said teams will have to find ways to adapt to neutral conditions.
“We will learn a lot from being here for another 4 games. But don’t underestimate how much it takes to change the philosophy of a side. We are very much a Chennai-based side,” the CSK coach said.
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“We saw Mumbai struggle to a degree in Chennai the other night. They have got a challenge on how to change their tactics in Chennai and our tactics have to be a little bit better with the ball in Mumbai. So, it’s one of the quirks of this competition in this COVID-19 age and we just have to find a way,” he added.
Fleming was all praises for Suresh Raina, who scored a fifty on his return to the franchise after missing the IPL 2020.
“It’s really good, considering the cricket and where he has come from. It was an outstanding innings. We put Moeen Ali up as an aggressor and also used Suresh’s aggressive role to get to play some cricket and find some form. But after playing 2-3 boundaries, he really got going,” Fleming said.
CSK recovered from 7 for 2 in 2.1 overs to post 188 for 7 against Delhi Capitals.
“It wasn’t bad when you lose wickets a little bit early and still manage to get to 188, that’s pretty good going. So the intent with the bat was pretty good. The conditions changed, dew and a little bit of rain made things difficult in the second innings. They played really well but 190 on this ground is still reasonably competitive, we just needed to bowl better,” the CSK coach said.
(PTI inputs)
