CSK coach Stephen Fleming has defended his skipper MS Dhoni, who has had a miserable start to the IPL season.
Chennai Super Kings' coach Stephen Fleming feels that skipper MS Dhoni is "not under any kind of pressure" despite his woeful batting form and the scratchy performance of the defending champions in their three IPL matches so far.
"He never seems to be under any kind of pressure. Obviously, he has pressure but that he has been living with for quite some time now," Fleming said defending his skipper, who has scored only 22 runs in three matches.
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"He has the desire to win like anybody else and it's known that he is talented. He is a key component in this set-up and everyone knows what happens when he performs," he added.u00a0
MS Dhoni hasn't had the best start to IPL V, neither as a player nor as captain. Pic/AFPu00a0
CSK, over the past four seasons, have always believed in a set pattern while choosing their playing XI and Fleming's viewpoints showed that the team's think-tank is keeping faith in an out-of-form Murali Vijay and Faf du Plessis, who has replaced senior Australian batsman Mike Hussey.
"It's only three matches and we have a long way to go. It would be unfair to Vijay to drop him after just three bad games, and he was run out today [Tuesday]. Vijay has been an excellent IPL player. As far as Mike Hussey is concerned, there can be only one such player, but Faf brings in a lot to the table. He is a fantastic attacking batsman and also a brilliant fielder. For us, he is a great attacking weapon. I feel it's too early to start doing synopsis."
The former New Zealand skipper admitted that four run-outs had put tremendous pressure on his team and they failed to wriggle themselves out of the situation. "The standard was set from the first ball. The more we tried to get out of the pressure, the more we got into it. We tried to break free but it got worse."
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