Courtesy: BCCI/IPL
After suffering a tough loss at the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Stephen Fleming, the head coach of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), was far from pleased during the post-match press conference held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The former New Zealand captain admitted that CSK haven’t been able to read the wickets at the Chepauk over the past couple of years before stating that they don’t have home advantage at the iconic venue.
Notably, CSK were beaten quite comprehensively by RCB with a 50-run margin in the IPL 2025 clash at Chepauk, which is their first such defeat at this venue against the near rivals since 2008. For Chennai, only Rachin Ravindra and Noor Ahmad delivered a performance of substance with the bat and ball respectively, but it was far from enough for them as they came nowhere near the 196-run total of the visitors.
We haven't been able to read the wickets here in the last couple of years: Stephen Fleming on Chepauk
With that, Bengaluru have started their IPL 2025 campaign with two wins on the spin away from home, while CSK have won only out of their two home games at Chepauk. In the post-match press conference, Stephen Fleming gave an honest take on his team’s biggest defeat at home, as per Cricbuzz, “Well, as we've been telling you for a number of years, there was no home advantage at Chepauk.”
"We've won away from home a couple of times. And we haven't been able to read... we've been really honest with you. We haven't been able to read the wickets here in the last couple of years. So, it's not new. We are trying to come to grips each day with what we get, and we don't know,” the CSK head coach wasn’t mincing his words about his take on Chepauk.
Stephen Fleming also remarked that they just can’t take the option of filling their playing XI with spinners since the pitches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium have gotten better for batting, allowing the top batters to take them down. “It's not the Chepauk [of old] where you can just go in and play four spinners. We're having to work really hard to try and understand what the nature of each pitch is, and it's quite different,” he added.
Get real-time IPL scores, Orange Cap, Purple Cap, points table, expert match predictions, and expert fantasy tips exclusively on SportsTiger!
