Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming backed pacer Khaleel Ahmed to the hilt despite leaking 33 runs in the 19th over against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but said they will be exploring more options going forward in the Indian Premier League. CSK skipper MS Dhoni turned to Ahmed despite the impressive Anshul Kamboj (3-0-25-0) having one over remaining, but the left-arm quick wilted under Romario Shepherd‘s assault. “Khaleel has done really well for us this season, so, there’s no reason for MS to have changed that. Kamboj is growing into his role nicely. He has the ability to do death (over bowling). He will be an option going forward, but there was no reason why Khaleel would be replaced to do that,” said Fleming in the post-match press conference on Saturday night.
Till Shepherd went after him, Ahmed actually had the highest dot-ball count in this IPL at 110, three more than Mohammed Siraj.
Fleming then touched upon the lack of big runs yielding overs post the 10-over mark in the CSK innings while chasing 214, as his side ended up at 211 for five, falling short by a mere two runs.
“If there was a big over there we would have won, but they bowled well. We knew that there was going to be a steep climb towards the end, but we maintained a pretty good rate.
“And then when it came down to the business end it was just one or two hits away. Of course, we would have liked to have had a big over with 10 overs to go, but it just didn’t come about,” he said.
However, the former Kiwi skipper saw some bright spots in the emergence of some young players despite the slew of defeats this season for the Super Kings.
“It was a much better performance though, but just a couple of areas where we lost concentration and they pounced, in particular in the last two overs of the fielding effort.
“And then we actually battled really well. It’s been one of our struggles this year, but there were a couple of individual performances there that we’re really proud of,” he noted.
Fleming then reiterated that CSK will be looking to build a young core unit with future editions of the league in mind, but without sacrificing the experience in their ranks.
“Given that our season has been a struggle, we are always looking to review and move forward. So, while it feels doom and gloom, we are unearthing some talent and getting some evidence together to put forward a good case for a good team next year.
“But we still value experience. If you look at the statistics of the tournament, you’ll see a lot of the players that are featuring are experienced players, so it’s the balance that we’re after. We’ve made some good gains in that,” he explained.
But Fleming did not hide away from the fact the trend of CSK crumbling to defeats in close matches was hurting for everyone involved with the franchise.
“It weighs heavy. We have high expectations put on us. Everyone who’s involved from the auction through to the day-to-day training of the team is hurting.
“This is not what you planned for. You’re looking at a little bit behind you, what we could have done better, and that’s just natural.
“But we’re also looking firmly ahead to make sure that we can make some gains over the next three games and be in a position that we can compete better next year,” he said.
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