Shortly after Chennai Super Kings came up with another Houdini act and pulled off a stunning victory over Rajsthan Royals, coach Stephen Fleming admitted that captain M.S. Dhoni would be asked questions about his unusual act of entering the ground to argue with the umpires.
Fleming said it was because of the confusion that Dhoni went up to the umpires and had a discussion.
In pictures: CSK vs RR
“We saw a no-ball being called by the umpire at the bowlers’ end … and then there was confusion if it was a no-ball or not,” he said. “MS asked for some clarity, which didn’t seem to be coming. He took the opportunity to discuss with the umpires.”
He said Dhoni had been fired up by the incident, but paid tribute to the man who won his 100th match in the IPL as captain.
“Hundred wins is great,” he said. “Dhoni as captain is very successful. Dhoni as a player is outstanding. Both those things are closely related. He played incredibly well today.”
Fleming said the team had high regard for Mitchell Santner, who hit that sensational hit off the last ball.
“We decided to play him because we wanted to have a combination close to the one we had against Rajasthan in the last match as they have a lot of right-handers,” he said.
“Harbhajan did not play because he had a sore neck.”
The coach, however, said there were areas of concern for CSK.
“Losing four wickets for 20-odd runs will not many games and we have to ensure the confidence of our top-order is high as they have had to bat on the tough wicket in Chennai,” he said.
“We need to work on our death overs and fielding too. We know we have a number of holes but we are trying to cover them as much as we can.”
Tough to take for Royals
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals opener Jos Buttler admitted the loss was a tough one to take. “The boys are getting in a good position to win, but are not able to get over the line,” he said. “The boys will be disappointed but I think that has been the story of the season for us so far.”
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