After making a bright start to their IPL campaign, Chennai Super Kings faced a defeat to Rajasthan Royals in their second match of the tournament. Concedin 216 runs in their 20 overs, CSK were held to 200/6, owing to splendid performances from Sanju Samson and Jofra Archers, among others.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming reacted to the side's loss, talking about the batting order and MS Dhoni's arrival at number seven.
"Expecting good things. MS Dhoni was special during the end of the innings. Curran was there to try and hit and keep us in the game at the point where we were falling behind. He has got good hitting power which you saw," Fleming said in the post-match press conference.
"Rutu is just in to the game. It's his first game, get him into the game. We got a long batting order, and we try to use our resources smart."
Talking about Rajasthan Royals' brutal hitting in the initial overs, thanks to Sanju Samson's power-packed 32-ball 74, Fleming said that the CSK bowlers bowled too full.
"The hitting was very good in the first six to eight overs. We overpitched and were little bit slow on the track. It was a good surface but we were just a little bit full," said the CSK coach.
Fleming also said that the fact that Dhoni hadn't played competitive cricket for over a year was the reason behind him coming late in the batting order.
"We have this question every year but he was there in the 12th over (14th over) which is pretty much an optimal time and batting accordingly. He's coming back after not playing a huge amount of cricket, so the expectations to see MS at his best will take some time," said Fleming.
"His hitting in the end was very good. Faf du Plessis carried forward and we went far away."
Talking further about Faf du Plessis, Fleming also hinted at the possibility of the South African batsman playing as an opener in the batting order.
"Maybe, given we had a couple of injuries," Fleming said on the possibility.
"Ambati Rayudu today, just before he left for the game so we had to shuffle a little bit. It's still early days. There could be some movement (in batting order), at this stage we have another game in quick succession, we play three in six days, so we have to make sure we don't panic and take positives from this game."
