Home conditions will help CSK: Fleming

Having tasted blood in their own den, the Chennai Super Kings, with a Lion as their motif, are hungry for another kill in the Indian Premier League (IPL) that concludes here today when the grand finale between the host team and the winner of yesterday'su00a0 Qualifier Two.

Fleming

Fortified by the fact that they have won all the seven home games this season, the Super Kings have already made it known that they are not unduly concerned whom they play today as they have the team to deliver the spoils.

MS Dhoni. Pic/AFP

IPL's most consistent team after reaching the semi-finals all four seasons, thrice finalists (including 2011) and winners last year, the Super Kings have the pedigree of a Derby winner with Mahendra Singh Dhoni firmly in the saddle, guiding the thoroughbred with the sure touch of a champion jockey.

"We were smart enough to pick up a side that will play well at home. There will surely be some advantage because we are conditioned to play at home," said coach Stephen Fleming while asserting that his team had no preferences about whom they meet in the final. "There is no preference because both (MI and RCB) are tough opponents. It is very even and close call," he said.

In fact, stability through continuity besides enviable balance has been the major contributing factor to the Super Kings' consistency and success in the IPL with Dhoni keeping faith in his frontline players despite failures. It is a luxury other captains do not have as the Super Kings story has been about team rather than individual effort.

Even the loss of Sri Lankan off-spinner Suraj Randiv (away in England for the Test series) earlier this month, has not greatly affected the team with West Indian all-rounder Bravo proving an adequate replacement.
Thus, the Super Kings are brimming with confidence, big-match experience, class and more importantly character that has seen them come through difficult moments during the season, notably last Tuesday when they recovered from 7-2 to chase down a target of 176, against the RCB.

At this stage in the competition, it matters little that the away record of the Super Kings, with three wins in eight matches, pales in comparison with their strong showing at home.