While chasing 196 against RCB, they managed to make only 146 after 20 overs.
Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player Cheteshwar Pujara has criticised Stephen Fleming’s remark on the Chepauk wicket after their 50-run loss against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led CSK won the toss and opted to bowl first. Chepauk’s spin-friendly wicket did not help their spinners much. The veteran spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, were too expensive last night. They conceded runs at an economy rate of 12.33 and 11.00, respectively. Jadeja remained wicketless while Ashwin managed to scalp only one wicket in Devdutt Padikkal.
After the match, CSK head Coach Fleming stated that Chepauk no longer provides “home advantage” to the team and they have faced difficulty in recent years in reading the pitch conditions.
“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 the wickets here in the last couple of years. So, it’s not new”, Fleming said in the post-match press conference.
Fleming’s claims left Pujara stunned as he felt that the pitch helped the spinners more in the second innings of the game while the ball “skidded on a bit more” during CSK’s bowling. He emphasised how Chennai has been using pitches that help their bowlers over the years. His current claim of “no home advantage” is shocking to Pujara.
“It is [surprising] because at CSK you can’t complain, it’s one franchise where they’ve been preparing pitches according to their strengths. You should [use home advantage], if he’s saying that [there is no home advantage] they don’t have a say, then I’m quite surprised”, he explained on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out.
Puraja stressed that franchises like Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, and Kolkata Knight Riders have always prepared their home pitches according to their needs. Thus, Fleming’s take on the Chennai pitch makes it completely baseless.
“If you speak about MI, CSK, KKR – I don’t think that’s the case [them not getting pitches they ask for]. Any other franchise, I can still understand. Those [three] franchises make sure they get what they want. Their strength has been when they play at home”, he added.
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Pujara also discussed his former franchise’s middle-order concerns after RCB handed them their biggest home defeat in the IPL. He acknowledged the top-order, consisting of Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra, as CSK’s strength. But, if they fail to perform in any game, their middle-order batters are not prepared to take up the challenge.
“Yes, their top order is their strength, but when they don’t perform well that’s the time the middle order has to step up, it doesn’t look like they’re completely ready for it”, he said.
The Men in Yellow have won one and lost one match so far. They will look to bounce back soon from this crushing defeat when they play against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on March 30.
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