Chennai: There may have been some doubts about Sanju Samson’s start with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), but head coach Stephen Fleming is sure that the star batter will soon get back into the swing of things. Samson’s form has come under fire after he scored 6 and 7 in his first two games of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. This is especially true after his high-profile move from the Rajasthan Royals and his recent success in India’s T20 World Cup win.
Fleming, on the other hand, dismissed the worries and supported the experienced batter’s ability to bounce back strongly.
“He is not going to score every time. It’s T20 cricket and he just nicked one today. But, he is in good form. He is training well. And when he gets going, he is often a match-winner. So, two innings don’t define an area of concern,” Fleming said after CSK’s loss to Punjab Kings.
Samson’s first two dismissals, first to Nandre Burger in Guwahati and then to Xavier Bartlett at Chepauk, show that he had a rough start with only 13 runs in two innings. But there isn’t much panic in the CSK camp because the team trusts his ability to turn things around after slow starts.
Samson has gotten a lot of attention, but CSK’s biggest worry is their bowling. Even though they scored a strong 209/5, they couldn’t protect the total after Punjab Kings chased it down easily, thanks to Priyansh Arya’s explosive start and Shreyas Iyer’s calm half-century.
Fleming said that the team could have done better with the ball, but when asked about their auction strategy, especially why they didn’t spend a lot of money on experienced pacers, he was careful not to say too much.
“I’m trying to think back to the auction process around all those names that you talked about were mentioned. I don’t, I can’t remember the dynamics. There was a large list of bowlers that we looked at and missed out on that might have been out of form at the time but are in form now. Trust me, we went over everything. I can’t remember those dynamics,” he said.
CSK’s squad overhaul has also raised questions about balance, particularly the lack of specialist finishers. But Fleming believes the modern T20 game has evolved beyond traditional roles.
“Look, I don’t think there is a thing called finishers anymore. It’s right from ball one, everyone is going at a rate of knocks. It’s not ‘build up to the 16th over and then go harder’. Everyone’s going hard from ball one. So the run rates of 10, 11, 12 all the way through are what’s expected and you’re not really getting the big peaks towards the end.
“It’s just a more aggressive approach to get 240. So you actually have to have players all the way through that are going to be aggressive and that’s certainly the team that we’ve got. Keep in mind we’ve got (Dewald) Brevis on the sideline and you’ve got one of the best finishers in the MS (Dhoni) and there’s some power there but Brevis is in the middle. I’m really content with the pace that we can go,” Fleming added.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
