After his team’s crushing 50-run defeat against RCB in the IPL 2025 on Friday (March 28), CSK head coach Stephen Fleming stated that the five-time champions have failed to understand the Chennai pitch in the last few years.
During the mega-auction last November, the Chennai-based franchise went behind the spinners as the Chepauk track is known for assisting the slow bowlers. However, that was not the case in their second home game of the season as RCB outclassed them in all facets of the game.
Addressing the media after the game, Fleming dismissed the talks of home advantage, claiming that they have not been able to read the pitch and conditions in recent years.
"Well, as we've been telling you for a number of years, there was no home advantage at Chepauk. We've won away from home a couple of times. And we haven't been able to read... we've been really honest with you. We haven't been able to read the wickets here in the last couple of years. So, it's not new. We are trying to come to grips each day with what we get, and we don't know," Fleming said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
In IPL 2024, the pitches at Chepauk didn't aid the spinners, which has been CSK’s strength from the start. The tweakers picked up 25 wickets while the seamers took 74 scalps in the last edition of this league.
"It's not the Chepauk [of old] where you can just go in and play four spinners. We're having to work really hard to try and understand what the nature of each pitch is, and it's quite different," Fleming said.
Coming to the match, RCB posted a massive score of 196/7 on the board after being asked to bat first. Skipper Rajat Patidar led his team from the front as he slammed a magnificent half-century (51 of 32) while Tim David (22* off 8) provided a strong finish with three consecutive sixes in the final over.
In reply, CSK finished their innings on 146/8 in 20 overs. Josh Hazlewood (3/21 in 4 overs), Yash Dayal (2/18 in 3 overs), and Liam Livingstone (2/28 in 4 overs) ran through Chennai’s batting line-up.
Fleming had expected the dew to set in and help their chase, but it wasn't to be as the surface got even slower in the second innings.
"No, we didn't get it right. It's so hard to read, but we thought it was going to skid on with the dew, but it actually got a bit tacky. So, it certainly made it harder here," Fleming said.
CSK batters don't go after the bowlers right from the word go but that doesn't make them a bad team, insisted Fleming.
"We talk about firepower, we have firepower all the way through," Fleming said. "I don't understand this question. Just because we don't swing from ball one and have a little bit of luck go away, we'll see at the end. Just see at the end who wins it. It's a positive brand of cricket, no doubt about it, but don't discount us."
(With ESPNcricinfo Inputs)
