In this day and age, there is no such thing as an unknown quantity. The internet and live television can provide in-depth material on almost any topic. In the realm of sport, this has brought all rival parties to a level-playing field.
A star-studded Chennai Super Kings (CSK) takes on Dolphins — a comparatively less well-known side — here on Monday, but the South African unit bears no element of surprise heading into this Champions League T20 league fixture.
“In modern cricket, we are a lot more familiar with players. We watched the Dolphins’ match last night, and we got a good idea of the patterns that they follow. Everyone can also be looked up on websites these days.
It was good to watch them last night, and we can assume that they are doing the same, although we are more predictable with the style of play,” CSK coach Stephen Fleming said here on Sunday.
The match that Fleming referred to was Dolphins’ defeat to Perth Scorchers, in its campaign lung-opener.
It was Mitchell Marsh’s two sixes off the final two balls which sunk the South Africans, while two hurricane fifties from Kolkata’s Andre Russell and Ryan ten Doeschate took out CSK in its first game.
With both teams eager to make the first step towards booking a semifinal spot, Fleming stated that the immediate task ahead required very little research or study. “Fate will be in our hands if we can win the next three matches.”