IPL 2025: It’s probably fitting that we’re at the bottom, says Fleming after CSK’s 10th defeat

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) It’s all but certain that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will finish as the wooden spoon holders of IPL 2025, after their downward spiral continued with a six-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals.

The sizeable Tuesday crowd – comprising children, adults and senior citizens – braved intense heat and a working weekday to be at Kotla and show vociferous support for MS Dhoni & Co by sporting yellow jerseys and whistling at every small opportunity.

But CSK’s muddled approach – like promoting Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube – and bowling having no penetration whatsoever again let them down.

Before Tuesday’s clash, head coach Stephen Fleming had talked about the opportunity to finish the season well being really important to them. But the defeat to RR, their tenth loss of the season, was another reminder of CSK being well behind the T20 curve. Hence, it wasn’t surprising to hear Fleming say that CSK certain of a bottom finish in points table is ‘probably fitting’.

“We don’t obviously like being down here, but it’s not a motivation. We wanted just a good performance. We’re trying to string some performances together. The aim was two good performances. Now it’ll be just one good one to finish.

“It’s probably fitting that we’re at the bottom. We’ve played that type of cricket, so you can’t hide away from it. But what we do want to do is just put a much better performance on the paddock that reflects the ability of the team,” said Fleming in the post-match press conference.

Though it was commendable of CSK to post 187/8 after losing half of their side at 78, that total was always going to be grossly insufficient in challenging a motivated RR outfit, who won on the back of their youngsters stepping up to the occasion.

“Some boys had training in Chennai as well. It was just that there was a bit of travel involved. The rest is a good thing, but I think it’s more to do with our position on the table in terms of if you’re up around the top four or five, then it’s a lot easier to come back and get motivated, get into it.

“We’re looking at just trying to put good performances on the park. Our motivation for these two games has been very high. The training has been good. The intensity was fine. We’re just lacking the performances in the middle again,” added Fleming.

Amidst all the chaos, CSK would be pleased with how Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis, who displayed some breath-taking shots while making 43 and 42 respectively, fared on Tuesday. Though CSK amassed 68 runs in power-play, a phase which has been the foundation of their downfall, they did lose three wickets, including of Mhatre, and that did hurt their quest of reaching 200.

“Our order is not right at this stage, and that is something that we are always looking to rejig. We’ve got some strong ideas for next year, so that all facets are covered. But that hasn’t been possible this year because of the lack of runs at the top.

“A lot of the batting positions are determined by how well a start we have, and then guys can fall into line. So we haven’t had that, and we’ve been just patching innings up, really, rather than constructing good innings,” stated Fleming.

With the ball, Matheesha Pathirana has been a pale shadow of his wicket-taking and run-controlling self, something which prompted CSK to retain him ahead of IPL 2025. Armed with a slingy bowling action, Pathirana has taken 12 wickets in 11 games, but has been mighty expensive – seen from his economy rate of 10.17.

“It hasn’t been up to what we want. We have high expectations of him, which is why we retained him. But he is coming back into some form. He was really out of form when we had him in South Africa. He’s made improvements, but it’s still not to where we or he would like. So there’s some room for him to get some form and get some confidence, I guess.

“But I think he’s just at that crossroads where batsmen are playing him better. They’ve seen more of him. So now he just has to drill down on what he needs to do to be as effective as what he’s been for the first part of his career. It’s a unique skill set, but it’s been a little bit off,” added Fleming.

In a season where their bowling has been gloomy, seamer Anshul Kamboj managed to hold his own in New Delhi by picking 1-21, including castling a rampaging Yashasvi Jaiswal. Kamboj, picked for the India ‘A’ tour of England, found some seam movement to keep the RR openers quiet, and that found him some praise from Fleming.

“Kamboj is good, you see his speeds are 138-139 – it’s deceptive, as his balls hit the keeper’s gloves harder. His big strength is his length and he just gets the ball to wobble on a flat wicket. I think he’ll do very well on that tour.

“If he gets conditions that seam around and a little bit of swing, he’ll be an absolute handful. So, he’s got some real potential with both white and red (balls) and we’re happy with his development and the opportunity he’s taken this year,” he concluded, as another difficult night for CSK came to an end.

–IANS

nr/bc