CSK head coach Stephen Fleming admits team in self-doubt after four successive defeats

Chennai Super Kings are off to their worst start in an Indian Premier League (IPL) season, losing their first four games. The four-time champions have entirely looked down and out so far, and even head coach Stephen Fleming has admitted the same. Following CSK’s eight-wicket defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday (April 9), Fleming attributed two issues behind CSK’s struggle – Deepak Chahar’s unavailability and overall below-par show in all departments.

The former New Zealand captain even reckons that the team’s self-belief has been shaken after four straight defeats. It must be noted that SRH had also made a dismal start to their IPL 2022 campaign, suffering thumping defeats in their first two fixtures. However, they hardly broke any sweat in beating CSK. This shows the Ravindra Jadeja-led side has some serious issues to address.

We’ve got some issues around player availability: Stephen Fleming

“I think it’s clear. Batting, bowling and fielding is what we need to work on. And moving forward we improve our batting, bowling, and fielding. We were well outplayed today. We’re sort of learning. We’ve got some issues around player availability, and in some areas a little bit underpowered, that we are just looking for players to step up,” Fleming said in the post-match press conference.

“And we haven’t had any evidence that sort of helps the belief. We are not winning any games. Not being close to winning any games, you get a bit of self-doubt, and the players get a little bit niggly. So, we just got to work through that pretty quickly and try to find some rhythm and get back in the tournament,” he added.

Notably, except for the 2020 season, CSK have qualified for the playoffs in every season they have participated. Hence, the Yellow Army needs a remarkable comeback to maintain that streak as they are currently reeling at the rock bottom of the team standings. Deepak Chahar is expected to miss a few more games amid fitness issues. Hence, it would be interesting to see what change in strategy CSK will opt to comeback.