Coach Stephen Fleming, a permanent fixture at CSK's press conferences this season, said that the defending champion wasn't taking anything for granted despite playing the final (on May 28) in its preserve, the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, where the team is undefeated for more than a year. “We don't take home advantage for granted. We have to work equally hard as the other team that qualifies. We have always felt confident about playing here, and have played good cricket here,” said Fleming.
Playing to advantage
Part of the confidence that Fleming speaks about stems from the results CSK has enjoyed at Chepauk, and the rest from how the team has been able to rally its personnel to play on the advantage the sluggish track offers.
Suraj Randiv's departure broke up CSK's spin combination — the side's primary weapon in the field — but Suresh Raina and Dwayne Bravo have managed to fill the void adequately.
“Randiv gets a lot of bounce and tends to get hit in odd areas so its difficult setting fields to him. Suresh Raina has stepped up and his bowling style is good for the wicket. Since (Ravichandran) Ashwin takes early wickets, it allows Suresh to be used defensively. (Dwayne) Bravo has done well too,” explained Fleming.
When asked whom CSK would prefer to play in the final, Fleming side-stepped the query, replying instead that the already eliminated Kolkata Knight Riders would have been a handful on the Chennai track.
“Probably KKR were best suited to play here with their spinners and they also have a very similar combination to us. It is not to underestimate the other teams, but I'm glad we won't be playing KKR. It is really hard to split the two sides (Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore), no preferences. They are both going to be tough to beat” concluded Fleming.
