Shortly after Chennai Super Kings came up with another Houdini act and pulled off a stunning victory over Rajasthan 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 the confusion that prompted Dhoni to go up to the umpires.
“We saw a no-ball being called by the umpire at the bowlers’ end… and then there was confusion about whether it was a no-ball or not,” he said. “MS asked for clarity, which didn’t seem to be coming. He took the opportunity to discuss it with the umpires.”
He said Dhoni had been fired up by the incident, but paid tribute to the man who won his 100th IPL match as captain.
“Hundred wins is great,” he said. “Dhoni as captain is very successful. Dhoni as player is outstanding. Both are closely related. He played incredibly well today.”
Fleming said the team had high regard for Mitchell Santner, who hit that sensational six off the last ball.
“We decided to play him because we wanted a combination close to the one we had in the last match against Rajasthan as they have a lot of right-handers,” he said. “Harjbhajan 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 win 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, 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 so far.”
On the Dhoni incident, Buttler said it wasn’t probably right.
“I was on the boundary and wasn’t aware of what was going on,” he said. “I am not sure if that was the right thing to do.”