IPL side Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming has asked his players to hit the reset button and be in sync with the latest trends to bounce back from the debacle of last edition.
CSK finished ninth in the 10-team tournament last year after winning the title in 2021.
With the Indian Premier League set to be played on a home and away basis this year after two years in ‘bio bubbles’, the former New Zealand skipper said players will have to adapt quickly to new ground conditions if they want that. do well this season.
“We have to play really well and we have to teach the team to play again (this season). We’ve had almost three or four years where we’ve been away, so our style of play has changed,” Fleming said in a report on the CSK website on Monday.
“So we need to get back in sync with the ground quickly and make sure the style of play we play is representative of what the ground demands. And we will do that and we have to do it quickly. So we are going to work very hard on that.” Fleming added that with IPL action finally returning to CSK’s Chepauk fortress, his team will do their best to maximize the home turf advantages.
CSK will be bolstered by the addition of England Test skipper Ben Stokes, who was recently bought by the team for Rs 16.25 crore at the Kochi IPL auction.
“Well, it’s a great time because we almost turned our home ground into a fortress, it was very difficult for teams to come and play against us and we worked hard. It didn’t happen by accident. We really developed the team that could specialize here. So we are very proud of what we have achieved here,” said Fleming.
“So this had to be a strong home base for us. And that was it, and what we gave and the results we got, we got back tenfold from the crowd. And as our support grew and our success grew, it just became an absolute juggernaut of a place to come and compete. And I know the players loved driving here, showing up to play, and I’m pretty sure as opposition it felt pretty scary.”