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Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are set to face the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Lucknow on April 19. Ahead of this match, CSK's head coach Stephen Fleming expressed satisfaction with his team's performance this season, noting that CSK has won four out of their six matches.
Fleming acknowledged the team's victories, particularly highlighting their wins against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Mumbai Indians (MI). CSK defeated MI in Mumbai by 20 runs on April 14. He emphasised that in a competitive tournament like the IPL, there is no room for complacency as it can lead to mistakes.
"All we want to do is to repeat what we did well and there were some good things for us in the last game in Mumbai against Mumbai Indians. In the IPL there is no time to be comfortable. If you feel comfortable, you make mistakes," said Fleming in the pre-match press conference.
Additionally, Fleming praised CSK’s improvement in fielding, which had been a weak point for the team in past years.
"We have taken some outstanding catches and our outfielding has been good," he added.
Fleming back Daryll Mitchell
The former New Zealand skipper also continued to support New Zealand all-rounder Daryll Mitchell, despite his slow start in the IPL. Although Mitchell has not yet delivered a match-winning performance, scoring only 135 runs with a strike rate of 125 and taking just one wicket in six matches, Fleming affirmed that CSK will keep backing him. Last year, Mitchell was signed by CSK for a substantial amount of Rs 14 crore.
"He has been contributing without giving star performances. We like to back players a lot and it is not always the Man of the Match (Player of the Match) performance that we value most," said Fleming.
Deepak Chahar injury status
Furthermore, Fleming gave an update on Deepak Chahar's injury status. Chahar did not play in the last match against MI on April 14, during which Shardul Thakur made his first appearance of the season.
"He is doing his rehabs well. It was a minor injury nothing to worry about. Shardul Thakur bowled well in the last match against Mumbai so we opted to give time to Chahar to recover well," Fleming revealed.
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