NEWS
Follow UsChennai Super Kings suffered a horror night on the field, with Delhi Capitals chasing down 188 with consummate ease. The bowlers never found their rhythm and the way Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw took on their bowlers, it was deja vu all over again.
While the loss is sure to raise a lot of questions, head coach Stephen Fleming believes that teams are going to struggle in alien conditions at the beginning but is confident about the fact that they will find ways to adapt to neutral conditions if they are to have a consistent run in the IPL.
"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," Fleming said at the press conference after the game.
"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.
"It's going to be high-scoring games in Mumbai and toss might play a crucial role," he added.
Despite losing two openers cheaply, CSK fought back well with the bat thanks to a very good partnership between Suresh Raina and Moeen Ali. Raina, playing his first IPL game in two years, never looked in rust and took the attack on the Rishabh Pant-led side for a well-compiled 54 off 36 balls.
"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 shots, he really got going.
"It's a really positive sign for us. I liked the way we turned it on after losing wickets when the wicket was tacky. We just weren't able to create chances with the ball, which is really disappointing," Fleming said.
'Losing Hazlewood was a blow'
"(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 upfront," Fleming said in the post-match press conference.
"Ngidi will be arriving soon. (Jason) Behrendorff would obviously be following that. It's (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."
CSK have four more days to regroup, before they take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 16 at the Wankhede Stadium.
(With inputs from PTI)
