Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming on Saturday (May 27) said that the team is better prepared for the IPL 2023 summit clash against Gujarat Titans compared to the past final appearances.
Notably, CSK have appeared in nine IPL finals so far, winning four and losing six. The MS Dhoni-led side will go for the fifth IPL crown on Sunday (May 28) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
“We geared ourselves up so well for Chennai that we did struggle with conditions at times in away games, so the finals were always a little bit of a challenge, and our record is about 50 per cent of winning the final,” Fleming said during the pre-match press conference.
“It is maybe due to the style of the game we created a victim of being so good at home that we had to make adjustments when we went to a neutral venue,” he added.
After a rare dismal campaign last year, CSK bounced back brilliantly to finish at the second spot in the league stage. They defeated table-toppers Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 to reach the IPL 2023 final.
According to Fleming, the Super King were “a bit more rounded” this year.
“Because of that going back to Chennai (for Qualifier 1), it was hard. I wanted to bowl (first) in the last qualifying game and batting proved to be the right call and MS (Dhoni) was the other way in the last game,” Fleming said.
“So we are well off the mark in trying to get the conditions right but the team is rounded enough to put performances together. Come the final, we are not worried as to what conditions we get, there are two pitches to choose from now but we are not too worried. We are a lot better placed than what we had been in the past,” he explained.
The former New Zealand skipper said that making early inroads will be key for his side as GT opener Shubman Gill has been in red-hot form.
“He (Gill) is playing really well. It (the plans) does not really change, you hope that you pick him up early, you have enough firepower to create an opportunity. The only thing that we are looking at is when you have got openers when they are in such good form, there is an opportunity to get into the middle order.
“If we can get a couple of early breakthroughs then, (just like) in the last game we played there is an opportunity. But we got to get past him, he is playing really well,” Fleming said.
For someone who has won the IPL title four times with CSK, Fleming said it is not easy to win the trophy in succession.
“So hard! It is impossible, it is going to be so hard for them (GT) to do it (laughs). No, they are a good side; you got to say really well done to what they have put together in a short space of time,” he said.
“I like the coaching staff a lot, they are really balanced guys. Ashish, for all his talking, has got a really good grasp of the game, and his enthusiasm is really high after working with him in Chennai. We have a huge amount of respect for what they have done but it is very hard to go back to back.”
(With PTI Inputs)
