Having began the new IPL season with three losses in a low, which has seen Chennai Super Kings have just four wins from 17 matches since 2025, plenty of questions have been raised about the role of head coach Stephen Fleming. Despite winning five titles, last season CSK appeared far off the pack as they finished last in the league.
And post their latest defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the scrutiny fell on Fleming. Having been in the chair for 18 seasons now, there is criticism among CSK fans that Fleming hasn’t kept pace with the pace at which T20 has evolved in the last couple of years. Ahead of their game against Delhi Capitals on Saturday, Fleming admitted that criticism was fair.
“Criticism is fair when you don’t do well. That’s part of the position. Look, I’m coaching throughout the year in two other competitions (SA20 and MLC), and I’m doing auctions across a lot of players. So it’s not that I just turn off and then come to the IPL without an idea of where the game is going. In fact, it’s the other way. I probably never spent more time studying T20 cricket around players around the world, just to service the other teams as well, which feeds into the IPL. So, yeah, we were off the pace last year, I’m the first to put my hand up and admit it. And we pivoted quite quickly now and we’re in a position where we’ve got some younger players. I feel very confident about this group of players. And in line with other teams, we haven’t shown that this year,” Fleming said.
After accepting that CSK’s old-school approach was flawed, Fleming chose to invest in T20 babies. While they haven’t got off the mark, there has been a visible change in their approach with the bat, where despite chasing a steep total against RCB, were ahead of the game till the 16th over. And Fleming said having a young team has taken a bit of time to settle.
“One of the challenges is the number of players we’ve changed in the squad means there is a little bit of a settling process where other teams have been together for a season. We understand that, so we’re trying to accelerate that process. And we just need a little bit of confidence and a bit of evidence, and that comes from getting across the line. And we haven’t been too far off. So, look, it’s a really good sign that we’re working very hard and we’re well aware, I’m well aware, and the criticism is appropriate. So, we just have to work harder and find a way forward. But I do feel in touch with the game, thank you,” Fleming said.
For a franchise that mostly walked out of the auction table knowing what their ideal XI is, the story hasn’t been the same in the last couple of occasions. Moreover, ever since the Impact Player rule came in, CSK have struggled to keep pace with the scoring rate. Fleming admitted that other franchises went ahead with the arrival of the additional player.
“We’ve been very open about that, that we weren’t accurate enough with the option. The other thing I want to acknowledge is the transition, and by no means an excuse, the transition from our method at Chennai. And for so many years we had a method and it made it very easy to pick a type of player because it was slower, spin heavy, and the type of player you could pick would be based on that. Over the last five or six years the game, the ground has really changed. You look now, it’s pretty vanilla, we’re learning now it’s going to be a good wicket this year. So you really have to change your game plan and the type of players that you’ve had,” Fleming added.
