Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said a tired lot of players, including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina, and the inability to adapt quickly on a new track were the reasons for the defending champions' early exit from the Champions League Twenty20 here.
Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said a tired lot of players, including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina, and the inability to adapt quickly on a new track were the reasons for the defending champions' early exit from the Champions League Twenty20 here.
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"In terms of their form and what they have come up, there is an element of fatigue. No doubt that they are playing a lot of cricket as a lot of other players," Fleming said after Chennai collapsed to 155 chasing 202 against New South Wales in their final league match here last night to bow out of the event.
"But playing with players with fatigue is part and parcel of the deal for an IPL coach. They have come through a tough tour and if you are looking for form, Twenty20 does not give you a lot of time to adjust to Indian conditions," he explained.
"I think the pitches that they have played on in the last couple of matches in England as compared to the pitches here is a big difference. The rest of the answer has to come from them but as a coach I was happy with what they gave. Of course, they did not perform as I expected them to," he added.
Fleming lauded NSW's bowling attacks for maintaining pressure over his team's batsmen.