After registering an emphatic 45-run win against Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming praised the impact left by Moeen Ali and he credited the all-rounder for rejuvenating the batting lineup.
Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja took five wickets among themselves as CSK defended 188 runs against Rajasthan to go second at the points table of the Indian Premier League (IPL). CSK defeated Rajasthan Royals by 44 runs here at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday. For CSK, Sam Curran also returned with two wickets.
"Moeen Ali is adding an all-round aspect to our game. We lacked it a bit last year but his contributions have just been what we were looking for. We are absolutely rad with the way he has started. In regards to the way, we are playing the game, I am really excited about that as well. I think we have not played a good 20 overs with the bat yet but still we are able to get high scores so the long resources we have, we are using that and we are pushing the opposition hard. Moeen Ali has been really impressive and with the way he has played at number three, has been instrumental in us getting big scores," said Fleming while replying to an query during a virtual press conference.
Opening batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad has failed on three occasions in a row this IPL, however, coach Fleming backed the youngster, saying the franchise will look to give him a long rope to succeed in the tournament.
"Robin Uthappa is waiting, but Ruturaj Gaikwad has that spot, he earned a bit of time with the way he played last year, you know your philosophy. We give our players a good run and if the intent is there, we will continue to back them. At the moment, we are backing a good young player," said Fleming.
When asked whether skipper MS Dhoni could bat higher up the order, Fleming said: "Every time MS Dhoni gets some time in the middle, he will get better and better. We have so much resource, but there will be a possibility where we would like to throw him up in the order. At the moment, we are trying to look for a solid order. The way we are playing and using it, it's quite encouraging."
"It is something we are concentrating on, we are watching games between hours and we are learning as much we can. We are working really hard to gauge what is a good score, there are a lot of factors, some of them are hard to predict and some of them are getting easier to understand. Today, the pitch we felt was a little bit drier which was a good sign and there was not as much dew so that meant there were still opportunities in the second innings," he added.
Earlier, Faf du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu scored at a firing rate before Dwayne Bravo's 20 runs off 8 balls came handy in the death overs as CSK posted 188/9 in their allotted 20 overs.
For CSK, Faf top-scored with an innings of 33 while for Rajasthan Royals, Chetan Sakariya returned with three wickets.
( With inputs from ANI )
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