The Lucknow Super Giants achieved a rare double against Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2024 on Tuesday. Days after beating the five-time champions at home, LSG also defeated CSK in Chennai. In the process, the KL Rahul-led side became the first team to beat CSK at home. The unavailability of key players has led to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) changing the plan of action this IPL season, prompting coach Stephen Fleming to admit that the team is “trying to find the right combination”, noting that they have had to adapt to more changes. due to a combination of unavoidable circumstances.
During the tournament, CSK's balance was disrupted by injuries to Matheesha Pathirana (hamstring problem) and Rahane (calf problem). Moreover, Mustafizur Rahman's absence from CSK's away match against Sunrisers Hyderabad was due to his US visa obligations for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
During the match, the MA Chidambaram Stadium was filled with CSK fans, but a handful of LSG supporters had the night of their lives. One such video has gone viral, where an LSG supporter is mocking CSK supporters.
“&39;”#HappyBirthdaySachin pic.twitter.com/PxRRT0251v
— Lucknow Supergiants (@LucknowIPL) April 23, 2024
The decision to drop Rachin Ravindra and the inconsistency of Daryl Mitchell's inclusion in the team, along with changes in the batting order to pair captain Ruturaj Gaikwad with Ajinkya Rahane at the top, did not yield the desired results for CSK.
“We feel a little bit uncomfortable in some areas. So we are not trying to find a quick solution, but we are there where players are going to contribute to the back end of this tournament. We have another change in a few games with Mustafizur (leaving ) come up with,” Fleming said in a post-match presentation.
“So we're just trying to prepare and get a squad that gives us a chance to go home. We've had injuries, we've been a bit unsettled, but the most important thing is to get guys in key areas and in shape to get.” That sometimes takes some time. Yes, there has been more change; some of it has been forced on us and some of it is form,” he said.
In Tuesday's home match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Mitchell fell for 11 off 10 balls and Rahane for 1 off 3. In their previous match against LSG in Lucknow. Sameer Rizvi came to bat at no. 6 and was dismissed for just 1 run in 5 balls, while Rachin opened with Rahane and Gaikwad batted at no. 3.
Mitchell, who was acquired by CSK for Rs 14 crore in the auction, has been shuffled across four different batting positions. He has amassed just 146 runs in seven innings, with a highest score of 34.
Reflecting on Mitchell's batting order, Fleming said he is more comfortable bringing the right-hander into the rankings as he has done well for New Zealand while batting at number one. 3.
“There's a lot of pressure. It's more comfortable for him to take the order. Me putting him in the batting role wasn't his best position. So we looked at rectifying that and giving him the order where he was.” he has delivered his best performances internationally. That may take some time, but the top three should contribute the majority of the runs.
“Ruturaj did that today, so hopefully he can continue his form and the others can pick that up… We're not firing on all cylinders by any means, but we're in every game and we're asking teams to play well.” to beat us. We just have to get a little better,” Fleming said.
With IANS inputs
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