On Thursday, Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming indicated that for their next IPL 2020 match against Delhi Capitals, there might be changes in the CSK playing XI.
What comes as a major relief toCSK is that Dwayne Bravo, the all-rounder from West Indies, is slowly regaining his fitness and Fleming said he could be considered on Friday for the pick.
Fleming said Bravo, who sat out the first two games due to injury, could be considered for selection in the next game.
Bravo is doing very well, and if he has a good few days of training, the next game may be considered for selection. That will be a nice headache for us to have as we’re planning to introduce players for the rest of the tournament and also getting our best combination,’ he said.
“In the first two or three games, you don’t generally choose your final winning side, but as soon as you can relax and get some stability into the team on which you are better off, and that’s what we’re working on now, giving new players a chance and then settling down.”
CSK could only manage 200 for six with CSK chasing a huge 217-run against Rajasthan Royals.
In the final over against RR, CSK pace bowler Lungi Ngidi was taken apart through Jofra Archer hitting him for four sixes, and Fleming said it would definitely affect his confidence.
“It will definitely hit the confidence of Lungi hard, and the main thing for us is just to get better for him and assess what he didn’t quite get right and make sure he’s better than what he was the last time the next time he’s in that opportunity,” he said.
Whether he goes for 30 or five or ten does not matter. All the time, striving to get better is what is important. We’ve got one of our squad’s best death bowlers in the game, and Dwayne Bravo was already with him. We’ll use the team’s expertise to make sure he’s okay and look forward to the next chance he gets.
Ambati Rayudu, who played a spectacular 71-run knock against the Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener, missed the game against RR because of an injury.
“Rayudu is our in-form player, and it was frustrating to lose him (against RR) at that time. I hope it’s just a couple of games,’ said Fleming.”After this (Friday’s match against DC), we have a six-day break, and we are expecting that on October 2 (against Sunrisers Hyderabad) he will be back for the game.”
Asked if teams chose to chase because of the dew, the former New Zealand skipper said: “The two games we’ve played so far were the first games of the tournament, in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, and the best way to go was to get a sense of the conditions we felt bowling was first.”
“It seems to be a theme, but with the dew (setting in later), bowling first is a bit of an advantage,” he said.
“One of the greatest challenges is finding the best combinations,” Fleming said, as “we have a lot of players who haven’t played for 12 months.”
“We’re working hard on a number of fronts, one is having the right team for the situations we’ve been uncertain about, and also having the guys up to speed with their playing style,” he said.
You can do as much practice and preparation as you want, but what happens in the middle doesn’t fully replicate it. So, for us, it was always going to be an exciting start. I assume we’re going to take one out of one with a lot of areas for change.
