Stephen Fleming, the Chennai Super Kings head coach, admitted that his team was in a predicament — wanting to give a long rope to players who are out of form yet also desperately needing wins to stay alive in the Indian Premier League 2025.
“It’s a delicate phase, isn’t it? We are still in the competition but we are hanging on by the thread, trying to find a balance between giving the guys an extended run to show some form and also wanting to get results,” Fleming said here on Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s high-voltage clash against Mumbai Indians.
“Unfortunately the position we find ourselves in, we have run out of time to be too patient. On the other hand, we don’t want to keep chopping and changing, trying to find the magic formula, quite possibly our tournament has been thus far.”
Chennai Super Kings is placed at the bottom of the points table with the league heading into its second half. While hoping for a miraculous turnaround, Fleming is also planning for the future.
“We have got eyes on the season, but we have also got a little bit of a look forward, making sure that we are developing players for the future and that might be the second half of the season, if it doesn’t go well over the next couple of games,” Fleming said.
“(Ramakrishna) Ghosh is one. He is an all-rounder. He has got a nice future. Ayush (Mhatre) has just joined us. He was impressive in trials, but he is really young in terms of experience,” he said. “Shaik Rasheed’s been with us for a while. There are a number of other guys who have played quite a bit. They are all good players, and it’s just where they will fit in.”