Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming kept his options about experimenting with the playing XI of the team in Sunday’s clash against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali.
“It depends on what happens today (Saturday’s matches). If results go our way, then we can have a look at some options but right now, we are firmly fixed on winning tomorrow’s game by playing well. You don’t want to over-complicate things,” said the CSK coach.
Since Delhi Capital finished behind CSK on the points table, the defending champion is virtually assured of playing at home in the first qualifier, thereby getting two opportunities to reach the final.
Asked about the workload management of M.S. Dhoni, Fleming said, “We look at the workload of all the players just because we are a little bit older than other teams. So we are always monitoring that. To be honest, the positive about Dhoni being sick last week was that he could take some rest. I thought he came back pretty good. Was talking to him and he said his back felt great. He was a little bit weak from the flu that he had. At this stage of the tournament, all players are suffering from fatigue.”
Poor showing in power-play
Kings XI Punjab skipper R. Ashwin pointed to consistently poor showings in the power-play as the main reason that kept the team out of the playoffs.
“We have definitely lacked, this year, in the power-play - both with bat and ball. Last year, we had great power-play, batting with Chris (Gayle) and K.L. (Rahul), but this year we couldn’t get off to great starts because obviously the pressure was on them and they had to do the job. We have to address this going into the next year, because we have lost most games on power-play battles.
