Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming feels that the addition of a few new players and the change of attitude has helped them recover from a disastrous IPL campaign last year and win three of their first four matches of the 14th edition of the tournament. Fleming feels the addition of players like Moeen Ali has augured well with the Yellow brigade as they have managed to turn things around this year. Meanwhile, he also said that despite the addition of new enigmatic players, the main difference has been in their mindset.
Chennai Super Kings didn’t manage to qualify for the playoffs the previous year for the very first time in IPL history. However, they have started this year’s campaign with a bang. Having lost the opening match against the Delhi Capitals, CSK has won their next three matches and currently occupy the top position in the points table.
"I think we've added some players that made a difference already, but the attitude is probably the number one thing, so real mind shift."
"It's probably both of those things, just making sure that we have a lot of batting that you can play a high-risk game and that gives confidence to the players to play a certain way. We felt we were a little bit thin last year to play a high-risk game. So we had to really swivel around and change more attitude than anything in this year," Fleming said at the post-match media interaction.
The batsmen have been in great form this season. After a few poor outings, Ruturaj Gaikwad also bounced back to form with a brilliant knock against the Kolkata Knight Riders. On the other hand, Faf du Plessis looked in sublime touch and finished on 95. Important contributions by Moeen Ali and MS Dhoni eventually propelled them to a huge score of 220. Fleming credited the batsmen for helping them register big totals.
"Winning three out of four probably exceeded the expectations. We felt maybe three out of five or if we got a couple would be good," Fleming said.
"We're very proud of the way the batting, in particular, is standing up that's two 190s and two 220s So, we're playing well in that department and that's by design which is good."
Before the match, Fleming had made it clear that they will persist with Gaikwad who showed his credentials in the last three matches in 2020 slamming three half-centuries. After a few poor outings this season, Gaikwad finally roared back to form with a mighty fine knock of 64 of just 42 deliveries.
Speaking on Gaikwad, Fleming said, "We told him to just keep playing, we rate him very highly. I know there's a bit of pressure on him from the outside, but inside the camp, there was absolutely no doubt that what he's capable of.”
"Naturally, you want the player to get into the tournament and relax and do well. He's such a stylish player and trains well, he's got talent oozing out of him. There was some pressure there but the mental aspect of getting a good performance will do him a lot of good," he added.