IPL 2023: It’s not how we planned, but T20 rarely goes to plan – Stephen Fleming on team’s injury woes

Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming admitted that the injury woes is hampering the team’s progress in the ongoing Indian Premier League. With Ben Stokes out for a week and Deepak Chahar set for an extended spell on the sidelines, CSK’s injury troubles manifolded when Sisanda Magala’s hand was split against RR on Wednesday.

The South African conceded only 14 runs in the two overs he bowled but could not bowl the last two overs due to injury. Thus, Dhoni had to back Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh, and Moeen Ali towards the end of the innings and all of them returned with expensive figures.

Stephen Fleming said in the post-match press conference, “We have lost another player two games in a row and we are already pretty thin, so we would like it to stop. Magala’s hand was split, unfortunately, so he was unable to bowl those last two overs. Same with Deepak Chahar in the last game. We are operating on thin resources.

“I think a lot of players coming out of a big domestic season are a little bit broken, but we just keep having to find solutions. It’s not how we planned, but T20 rarely goes to plan.”

The former New Zealand captain also provided injury updates on Deepak Chahar, Ben Stokes, and Sisanda Magala.

“Chahar is out for a 2-3 weeks probably. Magala will be out for a couple of weeks. Ben Stokes, day-by-day he is improving.

“Matheesha Pathirana tested positive for Covid in New Zealand and has recovered. He’ll come into contention for the next game.”

On the other hand, Fleming admitted that they were sloppy in the field. Moeen Ali had a horrible day in the field as he dropped two catches at slip and also missed a chance to run out Ravichandran Ashwin, who went on to score 30 from 22 balls.

“Extras, we were sloppy in the field with some catches going down, and little things like that are going to determine the result. We have had four games in four days, which have gone down to the last ball, which is pretty unique. It suggests the teams are very even, so little things on the day are going to matter.”

Fleming added that RR has got some world-class spinners in their team and it was always going to be tough for them to chase down 176.

“They (RR) have got world-class spinners, with [Ravichandran] Ashwin, [Yuzvendra] Chahal and [Adam] Zampa working away. We knew it was going to be a grind like that. Some good hitting at the end got us close.”

CSK will next face Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Monday.