IPL 2018: Stephen Fleming clarifies the reason behind Sam Billings not making it to the playing XI

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) found a new hero in Faf du Plessis in the first Qualifier who played a brilliant knock and steered his team to their seventh final in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He remained unbeaten on 67 runs until the end of the chase and whacked the winning six as well to start the celebrations in their camp. But many eyebrows were raised at the start of the game when Sam Billings was dropped for him in this crucial encounter. However, the coach Stephen Fleming has now revealed the reason for the same which worked wonders for his team.

Coming into this game, Du Plessis had endured a poor season with only 85 runs in 4 outings. He was struggling to time the ball and the fans were miffed with the fact that Ambati Rayudu was moved down the order to accommodate him despite raking runs while opening the innings. Meanwhile, Billings also didn’t warrant a place in the side considering his recent form. But his exploits in the middle-order could’ve proved useful for the team.

Fleming reveals

Stephen Fleming, in the post-match press conference, revealed that Sam Billings was injured while fielding in the previous game and that was the reason he was replaced by Faf du Plessis. An injury proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Men in Yellow as the South African won the game for them single-handedly when the chips were down.

“Sam has struggled a little bit, but he was still a part of our options. He then got hurt in the last game. He fell awkwardly on his hip, which has been quite bruised. He could have played with a push but he was uncomfortable so we took that opportunity to keep Faf in the side. He played the last game. It does change the set-up, with [Ambati] Rayudu going back to No. 4 but that’s not a bad thing either,” he said.

There is no chance CSK will now stay in Mumbai and will wait for their opponents in the final. The Sunrisers will get another opportunity now to make amends and will face the winner of the game between KKR and RR which will be played at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

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