IPL 2018: CSK yet to adjust at the new ‘home ground’ in Pune, reckons Stephen Fleming

CSK suffered an eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians on Saturday night in Pune.

Rohit Sharma played a captain's knock to take MI to victory | IANS

The fans and think tank of Chennai Super Kings had never imagined that they would have to play their home games in the ongoing Indian Premier League outside the Chepauk stadium. But the CSK camp received a shock when the BCCI shifted their home matches to Pune owing to the protest over the Cauvery issue in Chennai.

The clash between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders at the MA Chidambaram stadium on April 10 was marred by protests from political outfits over the formation of the 'Cauvery Management Board'.

Thousands gathered outside the Chepauk to demand the establishment of a Cauvery Water Management Board, hours before CSK’s first match on home soil since 2015. Consequently, the state administration wrote to the BCCI that they won’t be able to ensure adequate security arrangements for the remaining IPL matches in Chennai.

Until now, CSK has played two matches at the MCA Pune and they haven’t been able to acclimatize to the conditions. No wonder, Chennai coach Stephen Fleming said the team is still confused over the right combination.

“The biggest thing for us is to get to know this pitch as this is not Chennai and we picked a side that was going to be Chennai based. So we are learning like anyone else. It was just our second game over here so we have to work extra hard to get home advantage. We have learnt a little bit again today and now we have got only a day to get our combination right for Delhi,” Fleming said according to Hindustan Times.

“There’s very little grass out in Chennai than over here. The nature of the bounce is different as well. The bounce is Chennai is quite spongy and the side boundaries over here are not as long as Chennai. We would have to get the minor things right to get to play right team (in the next match),” he added.

CSK suffered a demoralizing 8-wicket defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians on Saturday night in Pune. Talking about the match, Fleming hailed MI’s effort and admitted that they should have scored more while batting first. Chennai managed to put on 169/5 in their 20 overs and it was chased down by Rohit Sharma with 2 balls to spare.  

 “We were in prime position but Mitchell’s (McClenaghan) over, where he got MS (Dhoni), was the turning point of the match. We were ready to launch as MS is in great form in the death overs and a score of 190 would have been a probability. They did bowl well to drag it down to 170 which was good cricket from them,” Fleming concluded.

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 29 Apr, 2018

    Share Via