Chennai Super Kings (CSK), for the first time in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, were outclassed by their opponents. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the match by 6 wickets with 14 balls to spare. This is the biggest loss for CSK in this season. CSK coach Stephen Fleming felt that things like this “can happen in a long tournament” and there will be no “chopping and changing” in the line-up yet.
However, he was clearly not happy with the efforts of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Fleming was also disappointed by the two dropped catches of Sunil Narine, off KM Asif’s bowling in powerplay.
Here’s what he said about CSK’s fielding in the post-match press conference:
“We were exposed and I think sometimes it reflected on the bowling. Certainly, we were on the backfoot with some good fielders making mistakes, it hit down a little bit,”
Here’s the video of the post-match press conference:
Fleming on Jadejahttps://t.co/hP9NrHnXXM
— Faizal Khan (@faizalkhanm9) May 4, 2018
KKR’s batting has been strong throughout the tournament especially in their home ground, Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Despite getting a good platform from the top order batsmen CSK failed to capitalise on it. Jadeja scored just 12 runs from 12 balls in the death overs, which was the reason why CSK could only post a total of 177 on the scoreboard. Fleming was more disappointed in Jadeja’s batting than his rare double blip in the field.
ALSO READ: IPL 2018, KKR vs CSK: Fan Breaches Security Cover To Touch MS Dhoni’s Feet — WATCH
“We were not that unhappy with 178, that’s a pretty competitive target. We just did not start well enough, we had opportunities but could not take them. We lost a little bit of intensity, could have scored a little bit more in the last four-five overs… a little bit more obviously from Jadeja. He got to score more than run a ball if he’s going to fill that role.”
ALSO READ: IPL 2018: Ravindra Jadeja Gets Trolled For His ‘Test-match Innings’ & Dropped Catches — Watch
CSK management’s role of sending Jadeja ahead of in-form Caribbean all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been criticised by many. Jadeja has barely scored runs in this season whereas Bravo has helped CSK win a few matches. The Saurashtra all-rounder seems to be in a ‘perform-or-perish’ situation as the tournament progresses.
