Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming was clearly surprised by his team’s meek display against Rajasthan Royals.
“It’s pretty one-sided, wasn’t it, for a top-of-the-table clash? We were totally outplayed in all departments, and that comes as a surprise to us because we were playing well,” Fleming said.
“It’s just the nature of the IPL. If you dust off physically and mentally you pay a price. I think we weren’t as good as we could have been.
“Fielding, which was probably the least concentrated on, was the worst its been in the IPL so far; probably because the players felt we were 20 runs short. We had a lot of pop-ups and balls bouncing in the gaps, and you just got the feeling it wasn’t our night. It’s not acceptable to go through the motions, and we’re disappointed to be rolled over so easily.”
“The way their openers batted — they took the game away.”
Skipper M.S. Dhoni mentioned the heat factor at the toss, but Fleming said it was no excuse. “The heat played its part, sure; but it’s no excuse in this competition. You just deal with it. And batting first is often an advantage. We have two out there that’s doing the yards (when batting). But as a team, it helps you more; it was in our favour to bat first,” he said.
When asked if having to face five bowlers in the power-play made it difficult for the batsmen, Fleming said: “I don’t think so. I think teams will try things against us; we’ve got an aggressive opening pair. Brendon missed a half-tracker; the same shot has been going out of the park in the last three games.”
Fleming praised the Royals’ selection policy. “One of their strengths is that they’ve been consistent with their selection. They’ve got a very good core group of players and they, like us, have tried to hold on to them as long as possible, he said.
“Today they were on the money, weren’t they? They played a pretty perfect game and they’ll be very happy with all the facets.”
“There is a clear leader at the moment, isn’t there? Rajasthan have set a very good pace early on.”
“We absolutely got whooped today by a team that’s full of confidence and used their home ground — or semi-home ground — very well.”
