'Even Mumbai struggled a bit' - Stephen Fleming after CSK's heavy loss vs DC in IPL 2021

Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming has admitted that his team needs to be tactically better to adapt to the conditions in Mumbai. Fleming’s comment came after CSK suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Delhi Capitals in their IPL 2021 opener on Saturday (April 10). After their disastrous campaign last year, CSK would have wanted to start the ongoing season on a good note but their hopes were dashed by DC.

The last year’s beaten finalists made light work of the three-time champions and thrashed them by seven wickets at the Wankhede Stadium. The MS Dhoni-led side did well with the bat and scored 188 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs. Comeback man Suresh Raina starred with the bat, scoring 54 while Sam Curran also played a fine cameo of 34 to guide the team to a good total.

The score, however, turned out to be too less in the end as DC chased it down comfortably inside 19 overs. Their openers Prithvi Shaw (72) and Shikhar Dhawan (85) took the CSK bowlers to the cleaners and stitched a 138-run opening stand to all but end the game. CSK’s spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali struggled to be effective at the Wankhede Stadium as MS Dhoni’s tactics fell flat against DC.

‘We will learn a lot from being here’

With CSK to play four more games in Mumbai, their team management needs to change the tactics soon to do well. Speaking about that, Fleming stated that the team will learn a lot and also admitted that it would be tough to change the side’s philosophy. He also insisted that CSK is still a side made for conditions like Chennai.

“We will learn a lot from being here for another 4 games. But don’t underestimate how much it takes to change the philosophy of a side. We are very much a Chennai-based side,” Fleming told the press on Saturday.

“We saw Mumbai struggle to a degree in Chennai the other night. They have got a challenge on how to change their tactics in Chennai and our tactics have to be a little bit better with the ball in Mumbai. So, it’s one of the quirks of this competition in this Covid-19 age and we just have to find a way. It’s going to be high-scoring games in Mumbai and toss might play a crucial role,” he added.

Fleming also praised Raina for his impressive comeback. Raina was playing his first game in IPL since 2019. The southpaw had pulled out of last year’s IPL citing personal reasons. During this period, he had played only five competitive games. But the lack of match practice did not have any effect on him as he hit the ground running in IPL 2021.

“It’s really good, considering the cricket and where he has come from. It was an outstanding innings. We put Moeen Ali up as an aggressor and also used Suresh’s aggressive role to get to play some cricket and find some form. But after playing 2-3 shots, he really got going,” Fleming said.