It will take some time to see MS Dhoni — the finisher, that everyone is waiting for, says Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming as his side fell short in its run chase against Rajasthan Royals despite having the former India captain at the crease.
“We have this question every year. He was in in the 14th over, which is pretty much optimal time, and sort of batted accordingly. He is coming back from not playing a huge amount of cricket,” Fleming said at the post-match press conference.
“So, the expectations to see him at his best is gonna take some time. But you see him towards the end, he was very good. Faf du Plessis carried the form, so we weren’t too far away. It wasn’t the batting that was the worry to be honest.”
Fleming said his spinners were slow in adjusting the length of their deliveries (they bowled overpitched). Sanju Samson (74) was on fire against their spinners.
“Their (RR) hitting was very good in the 8 overs they faced. It was a good surface (to bat) and we were slow on adjusting. We did not adjust quickly. There was intent to adjust but execution was poor.
“So it was dangerous time and we had to just hang in there and try. We came close to pulling back to a manageable score but that last over took us out of reach.”