Dubai: Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming, after bagging the fourth IPL title as the head coach of the team, says that the success mantra of the ‘ageing warriors’ is that they rely more on gut feel and interpersonal relationships instead of going too deeply into analytics and numbers. After beating Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs on Friday night, Fleming said that the team received lot of criticism about the age of the squad, but it’s rewarding to finish the four-year cycle with the trophy.
‘Experience is important, guys who have been there and done it before add so much. We don’t get too deep into analytics and numbers, we go with gut feel and developing relationships with players. It’s old school but it works for us’, the head coach said.
At the post-match press conference, Fleming said that all the four IPL titles are special to him but the current one holds greater significance as it was bagged by a side, which was written off at the start of the tournament. “It is very hard to rank them (the titles). It is also special because you work so hard and the result of a lot of hard work, so they (the titles) are all very special. I think, the one win in 2018, coming back, was very emotional but there is a lot of hard work in this one. I don’t think a lot of people had any hopes from us to be able to maintain our competitiveness during this cycle. We were pretty much written off. So, there is little bit of satisfaction around that and a lot of pride in what the players have been able to achieve and maintain the standards over a number of months and that was a challenge for an ageing side. I am really proud about what they did and in the way they played’, Fleming said.
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Fleming further added the title was a recognition of the hard work that the squad has put in and hinted that there will be a few changes in the team next year. ‘Chennai always had a system or belief that you maintain players and keep them with you for a long period of time, you get the best out of them. There are some players that have been with us for a long time. There is emotion around, I think when you get to an end of a cycle, you are not going to get some players back, so there (was) some emotions around these last games. When you win it, it is celebration and also recognition of what players have put in’, he said.
The former New Zealand captain also showered praises on Ruturaj, who emerged as the orange cap winner, this season. ‘Yeah, I do see him as the next star of Indian cricket. He (Ruturaj) is an absolute superstar already in my eyes. When we introduced him last year, people were little bit critical but we (had) such high expectations from him’. He added that the opening partnership between South African veteran Faf Du Plessis and the young Ruturaj Gaikwad was one of the reasons for the team’s success.
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