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Cricket

“They say there are no fairy tales in the sport, but it was a pretty good one today,” says Stephen Fleming

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming commended Ravindra Jadeja’s efforts after he assisted Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in winning their fifth Indian Premier League (IPL) title in the early hours of Tuesday. Jadeja, who has been in and out of team India and CSK, has had a difficult 18-month spell, during which he also resigned his captaincy of the franchise. Coach Fleming, on the other hand, was full of praise for him and felt that his confidence had been returned.

With 13 runs needed to win against Gujarat Titans in the last over, CSK managed just three runs off the first four balls before Jadeja hammered Mohit Sharma for a six and a four off the next two deliveries to virtually take the Cup from Gujarat’s clutches.

“They say there are no fairy tales in the sport, but it was a pretty good one today. It has been a bit difficult 18 months where, as the captaincy was difficult, the injury was difficult, it took a bit of time from out of the game for him to come back into and be reintegrated into the Test side, and then re-integrate into CSK,” Fleming explained in his post match press conference.

“It’s probably been a difficult 18 months where the captaincy was difficult. The injury was difficult. It took a bit of time for him to get out of the game and come reinvigorated in the Test game and then reintegrate into CSK. He plays a great role with the ball. But we’ve got so much firepower, that sometimes we use him lower down the order. But something had to give. And MS has been really supportive and proactive of getting him up there and today he repaid that faith,” Fleming stated.

With 13 runs needed off the last over, Jadeja and company were on the verge of loss until he struck twice on the next two balls. CSK needed 10 runs off the final two balls, and Jadeja delivered with a six and a four to add another trophy to his collection.

Analysing Jadeja’s gameplay, he explained, “The six, I think, in particular of the ball which was pretty close to being perfect, was defining, and then left-handed drive to the fine leg. It was a great way to finish it. I couldn’t be more happy for him. There has been some frustration at times, but he is our gun player, he is a No 1 ranked player and today he delivered.”

The CSK coach stated that his team struggled in the first half but improved and became more confidence as the rain-soaked game progressed.

“215. I felt that was a great score, but the weather arrived and we had to rethink our plans. We thought it was doable with the dampness on the pitch. It would require a lot of batting. “The start was critical because we were still reeling from the fielding. The first four or six overs gave us hope, and once we had a taste for it, we felt we had a chance because it is the sort of ground where it is really difficult to defend. It was going to be high octane the whole time,” Fleming continued.

Fleming lauded Gujarat Titans bowlers Mohammad Shami and Mohit Sharma for extending the match to the last ball.

CSK’s victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium equaled Mumbai Indians’ five IPL championships. They are the first team to have won the IPL in three separate decades, winning in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, and currently 2023. MS Dhoni is also the competition’s joint-most successful skipper, with five trophies, alongside Rohit Sharma, while Ambati Rayudu has six titles to tie the latter’s record.

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