Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming praised Kartik Sharma for his impressive knock, stating that the youngster will only improve after his memorable performance against Mumbai Indians (MI). CSK defeated their arch-rivals by eight wickets at MA Chidambaram Stadium to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Kartik was promoted up the order ahead of Shivam Dube and Dewald Brevis during the chase of a modest 160-run target. He delivered with an unbeaten 54 off 40 balls, which included four boundaries and three sixes, guiding his side comfortably to victory.
“You have the young players, so there are two parts to it. One is how you introduce them. It is a big stage, no matter what they’ve been doing at the domestic level. So understanding their mentality is really important, and it is a big step up. They can have all the talent in the world, but the temperament is what we’re looking for. And his introduction was tough at the start, and then he had a little bit of time out where he worked hard, and today was a good reward for that,” said Fleming in the post-match press conference.
“He’s a fine player, and he was expensive in the auction because others see that as well. And tonight it was good to see the temperament as well as the skill on show, and he will just get better and better. So it’s a nice spot for him, and the timing was right. So we’re really pleased and proud of what he did today,” he added.
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MI were restricted by an excellent bowling performance from CSK, with Anshul Kamboj picking up three wickets and Noor Ahmad claiming two. Kamboj’s spell also saw him become the joint leading wicket-taker of the tournament, with 17 wickets to his name.
“It’s not a surprise for us. At the end of last year, he was really good. He’s worked hard with Eric Simons (CSK bowling coach) around the concept of death bowling, and he has worked during the year to master that. And I think you’ve seen some fine performances, both in the reason why and what he’s doing, and then the ability to execute under pressure. And they’re two really key components at the death, and all we really needed was evidence. And again, a lot of the work we’ve done pre-season and out has been with open wickets and understanding angles and what he can and can’t do from certain sides of the wicket, and it’s very impressive,” said Fleming.
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Ramakrishna Ghosh made his IPL debut in the match, delivering a tidy spell of three overs for 24 runs and picking up the crucial wicket of Suryakumar Yadav. A batting all-rounder by trade, he impressed Fleming with his overall performance.
This victory lifted CSK to sixth place on the points table, with eight points from eight matches. They will next face Delhi Capitals on Tuesday at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
“His improvement in the recent weeks has been noticeable. He has been training really well in our workout at the academy. We have two grounds that we use. It’s been very impressive. So disappointing that he was injured towards the end, but the other point was — he does bat and bat well, and that’s an area of big improvement. So he can genuinely be called an all-rounder,” Fleming concluded.
