Fleming adamant on coaching methods despite poor season, refusing to burn the CSK playbook despite setbacks.
Fleming adamant on using the same coaching methods that has brought CSK success over the years despite a poor season this year.
The 2025 Indian Premier League season for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has been peculiar. Having a core group of seasoned players who could handle the highs and lows of T20 cricket was the foundation of their success in this event, which included five title victories and twelve playoff appearances. That philosophy was questioned, even during their winning streak. Coach Stephen Fleming was asked if there has been a change in strategy since they are losing and have had to look to their young players to see if things might improve. There wasn’t, he was adamant.
“No, I don’t care how old players are,” Fleming said on the eve of CSK’s game against Rajasthan Royals in Delhi. “I do like experience though, experience has served us really well over the proud years that we’ve had. It hasn’t worked out quite well for us this year and that could be a bit of form. It can be strategy, it can be a number of things, that just don’t quite work out.
“The competition is very even, so the fact that we’ve been so consistent over a number of years, to have a poor year has sort of shaken everybody, but it’s understandable given that, the excellence in which the franchises are operating in.”
Fleming could tell that early in the season, CSK was falling behind. They lost the wagers they placed at the auction table in November of last year. They returned with R Ashwin. He had already shown himself to be a reliable performer for them, and his success persisted even after he left. Similar to Shivam Dube and Ajinkya Rahane, they also hoped to bring back Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, or Vijay Shankar, but it didn’t work out. Players who have played in the IPL for years were taken aback by their collective failure.
“The challenge for us is making sure out of this that we do go over everything that we are doing [now] and have done in the past to make sure we are keeping up with the philosophies [of the time], but also identifying talent.” Fleming said.
“It’s one thing to say we want a team full of young players, but you’ve got to find them. So it’s identifying talent and making sure they fit in. To the experience which I’ll say again, I do like [it] and you have a look at the, the top run-scores and wicket-takers and you see there’s a fair bit of experience there, but what it’s sprinkled with is some amazing performances by young players who are playing sort of fearless cricket.”