“It’s not how we planned” - Stephen Fleming admits injuries hampering CSK’s IPL 2023 campaign 

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) coach Stephen Fleming has admitted that multiple injury woes are hampering the team’s campaign and planning. He, however, added that Chennai are not the only team dealing with fitness issues and they need to work around it.

Pacer Sisanda Magala became the latest addition to the franchise’s injury list on Wednesday, April 12. He hurt his finger while taking Ravichandran Ashwin’s catch during Chennai’s clash against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Magala has been ruled out of action for at least two weeks. Deepak Chahar, who picked up another injury in the last game, will remain out of action for a few weeks. Chennai lost left-arm pacer Mukesh Choudhary ahead of IPL 2023 due to a back injury. All-rounder Ben Stokes has also missed CSK’s recent matches due to fitness concerns.

Speaking at the post-match press conference following Chennai’s three-run loss to Rajasthan, Fleming admitted that things are far from ideal with regard to players’ fitness. He lamented:

“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.”

Asked about the player's injury status, Fleming said that he could only give a rough idea and replied:

“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.”

In the absence of regular stars, Chennai have been forced to open the bowling with Akash Singh and Tushar Deshpande.

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“We were sloppy in the field” - Fleming on CSK’s defeat to RR

Reflecting on Chennai’s loss to Rajasthan, Fleming opined that they were sloppy in the field, adding that catches going down hurt them against a strong opponent. The former New Zealand captain commented:

“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."

On the team’s batting performance, he added that Chennai lost momentum through the middle. Fleming elaborated:

“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.”

Batting first after losing the toss, Rajasthan put up 175/8 on the board and then held Chennai to 172/6.