CSK coach Stephen Fleming rues missing Mustafizur, Pathirana in SRH loss: Part of IPL

CSK coach Stephen Fleming rued the fact his side were missing the services of Mustafizur Rahman and Matheesha Pathirana for their match against SRH, but admitted that it was part of the IPL process.

CSK were handed their second consecutive loss in Hyderabad after the home side made quick work of the chase of 166, thanks to a whirlwind knock by Abhishek Sharma at the start.

A fifty from Aiden Markram and 31 from Travis Head set up the 6-wicket win in the end. However, CSK were notably a bit light on the bowling front on Friday with Mustafizur back home in Bangladesh due to visa issues and Pathirana having a niggle. Speaking at the press conference after the match, Fleming said that there was no doubt that Mustafizur was a big miss. The CSK coach also said that Mukesh Choudhary, who was making his IPL return, didn’t have the best of days after conceding 27 in his only over.

“Without a doubt, it’s It’s part of the IPL. He’s not here, so we can’t use him. But having injuries and losing players in an IPL is part of the process.”

“We had a chance to introduce Mukesh Chaudhary today. He was good for us a while back. It wasn’t his day. But that’s part of the IPL It’s managing players, and when you do find yourself a little bit short on firepower, it’s finding the new hero,” said Fleming.

We were maybe 15 runs short in the end: Fleming
Fleming also felt that his side were 15 runs short in the end and weren’t accurate enough in the powerplay overs.

“And, it didn’t happen today, but we put trust in the players that we introduced and they’ve been training well and doing the job. Tough baptism. The first five or six overs were the best to bat, and the aggressive way in which they played showed that. So, being able to get a wicket first over and maybe shut down the second, it could have been a competitive score, but maybe 15 short and, not quite accurate enough for first six overs with the ball,” said Fleming.

Mustafizur is second in the Purple Cap standings at the moment with 7 wickets, while Pathirana has 4 wickets to his name from 2 matches. CSK will be hoping that the duo will be back in time for the match against KKR on April 8 in Chennai.