Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said the franchise would seek to find answers to specific needs at the IPL player auction to be held here on Sunday.
The auction with as many as 101 cricketers in the pool has the former and present Australian captains Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke with the highest base prices of $400,000 each. No Pakistani cricketer is in the fray.
Asked about the viability of the 38-year-old Ponting who has now retired from all forms of international cricket in the hectic world of IPL, Fleming said here on Friday, “We already have a player similar to him in Michael Hussey in the CSK.
“Ponting will bring with him tremendous experience and skills learnt over the years, which he can add to the team and pass on to the younger players.”
Fleming said the main area where the team would be seeking to improve was in the domestic pace bowling department, indicating that the franchise might like to fill a few breaches here during the auction. “We came up short in this area a few times last season and we would like to do better here.”
In need of greater depth
The franchise’s pace bowling coach Andy Bichel said, “We need greater depth in seam bowling. We were exposed a bit in this area in the Champions League in South Africa last season.
“In the IPL, when we play matches at Mohali or Dharmashala, we would like to throw in a couple of young domestic pacemen.”
Despite CSK’s record as the most successful team in IPL, Fleming said there was scope for improvement. “Kolkata Knight Riders raised the bar by winning the title last season and we would have to go beyond them this season. We would be looking at both international and domestic cricketers during the auction.”
