Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming is disappointed at losing to Mumbai Indians by eight runs at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday. He acknowledged the brilliant fielding by Mumbai Indians. “We are a hard working side, but cannot match MI which has great athletes,” said Fleming at the media interaction after the match.
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CSK was in control at the beginning and Doug Bollinger bowled exceptionally well in his last two overs.
It's another game that slipped away. We did okay on the field, we restricted a powerful batting line-up to 160 odd on a wicket that got better. We lost key wickets at key moments and at the top of the order. Michael Hussey's wicket was the key. The skipper not getting runs was unusual. That set us back. I am aware that we have to start winning again to get back into the competition.
The turning points?
There is never one turning point in this format, there are probably 20. Each ball can basically determine a game. Hussey and Dhoni getting out, dropped catches. We cannot field as well as the Mumbai Indians. They have great athletes and we saw a great fielding effort from them. That made the difference. We cannot field as well as them, but we can definitely do better. That's one of the areas we need to improve.
It's still an even competition, but we cannot afford to fall behind anymore.
CSK's declining run-rate
We have won two home games, so if we win the rest of the home games, we are going to be close to the play-offs. We have to keep winning matches and not worry about the run-rate. If you have one good week, you find yourself at the top of the table.
The run-rate is more about the quality of your win and loss. If you win well the run-rate will go up, if you lose big, your run-rate suffers. First and foremost you must be in a position to win.
Albie Morkel's role?
For three years he performed well for CSK and that's why we retained him. Today was an opportunity for him to be a match-winner. He has done that for us and he's a very good player. He is one of the key reasons we won the trophy last year. He's got good skills; he is probably a better batsman than Pollard.
Absence of Muttiah Muralitharan
He was outstanding for us for three years. Suraj Randiv is a very good bowler. However, he's not getting the results at the moment. He's a talented player and will play an important role, especially in Chennai. Everybody needs to get a little bit better. We don't have Murali, but we are happy with the squad we have.
Pressure of expectations being the title holder
Yes, there is. We want to be back in the final. We want to get into the Champions League and win. We have set standards over a period of three years. The situation we find ourselves in is not unfamiliar. We have to get back to winning ways to be a semifinalist. It's still a long way to go. We are certainly not pressing the panic buttons.
Coaching international teams
I am enjoying coaching. I have my hands full with CSK. I have not thought a lot about my coaching career. I have always said the time was probably not right for full-time coaching. I am still learning my coaching philosophies and how to coach.
