New Delhi, May 19: With Chennai Super Kings (CSK) nearing the end of one of their most forgettable IPL seasons since the tournament’s inception, head coach Stephen Fleming stated that his team is very aware of the opportunity of finishing their campaign on a strong note and aim to salvage some pride.
With tenth-placed CSK eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago, the only real interest for their match against ninth-ranked Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday at a neutral venue – the Arun Jaitley Stadium – is who will become the wooden spooners of IPL 2025, something which both teams would be keen to avoid.
“One thing is the players that represent Chennai in the next two games will be very proud. The opportunity to finish the season well is really important to us. We had a good win in the last game, and we reflect back on past seasons where it hasn’t gone that well for us.”
“We finished those seasons well, which has helped our performances in the next season.
So there’s always opportunity, and the intensity in the side, the way we play these two games, we’ll have intensity as though we’re trying to win the competition. Because it’s important to us every time we represent CSK, it’s important that we play as well as we can.”
“We know we haven’t been up to par, so we’ve got two opportunities to finish well. So that doesn’t change. We are looking at the opportunities for other players. We’ve done that in the last two or three games. We’ll continue to do that because that is an opportunity out of our performances that we will be bullish on to take. So we’ve learned a lot and added to this group, and we will continue to learn over the next two games,” said Fleming in the pre-match press conference on Monday.
Once it was clear that CSK won’t enter the playoffs, the process of infusing youngsters in the team began to take shape. Players like young Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis have come as big positives in an absolutely lacklustre season for CSK across all departments.
“They certainly have had an impact which is a positive from a season that’s been a challenge. But we realised that sort of early on that we were off the pace. So to be able to introduce these players, they’re definitely in line for the future as we sort of regenerate the team and redevelop or reconfirm our philosophy of how we want to play. So, they’ve done well.” (IANS)
