As Chennai Super Kings suffered another costly defeat, this time at the hands of Gujarat Titans at home on Sunday, the spotlight once again fell on head coach Stephen Fleming and the decision to play Urvil Patel, which disturbed the batting combination. Coming in at No 3, he lasted just three deliveries, which forced CSK to use Sarfaraz Khan as an Impact Player inside the powerplay overs. Speaking after the defeat, Fleming said they made the decision to include Urvil because of Gujarat’s strong pace attack. “We were a little bit worried about our batting order against these guys,” Fleming admitted. “It’s a very good bowling attack, and we know that they’ve got pace and bounce. So we were a little bit concerned that if there was some movement and bounce in the wicket, that we could be exposed early. And last time we played here it spun, and we played well against Kolkata. So we were expecting something similar, but it was a little bit different to that. But the security could either have an extra bowler or an extra batter. And when it’s sniffing around and a little bit of bounce, then you get to make a call pretty early to try and extend the batting order,” Fleming added. Having beaten Mumbai Indians in the previous game, the defeat was a hammer blow for CSK to keep pace with the play-off qualification. Made to bat first on what was a tacky pitch, CSK struggled and in the first 10 overs managed only 43 runs before recovering in the second half to post 158/7. “I don’t want to sound like I’m making too big an excuse, but I just think the first 10 overs today were tough in terms of conditions. That’s what we felt. We were all looking through a different lens. But we felt it was tough, and then we were always behind the game. We need to keep being positive. It is one step forward, one step back. But if that continues, we look forward to winning the next game,” Fleming said. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who top-scored with an unbeaten 74, said the first half of the innings was the most challenging to bat on thanks to uneven bounce. “Sometimes I hate to assess it this way but it was challenging in the first innings. It was holding for the medium pacers and the bounce was up and down. We lost too many wickets but it was difficult to play some shots. It is hard to assess how it plays. This game we didn’t have any idea. By the time we wanted to adapt, it was too late. At the first timeout, when Fleming came out I told him, ‘I am trying to attack but it was tough’. There was more bounce, or less bounce, and I told him I am trying to change. It just did not come good. It was just an off day and even on the field we were lethargic,” Gaikwad said.
Stephen Fleming on changing team: Concerned we would be exposed early
