"To have a poor year has sort of shaken everybody...": CSK head coach Fleming

New Delhi [India], May 19 (ANI): Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming has emphasised the value of experience and said that the team not working well has shaken everybody and they are working to find winning form again.

Chennai, a team that boasts five title wins and 12 playoff appearances, crashed out of the playoff race in the group stage. They built their core group around experienced players who could help them navigate through the ups and downs in the cash-rich league.

"No, I don't care how old players are. 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," Fleming said on the eve of CSK's game against Rajasthan Royals in Delhi, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

"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," he added.

Chennai brought back their former frontline spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, a proven match winner, who failed to live up to expectations. By acquiring Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, and Vijay Shankar, Chennai tried to revive their careers like they did with Shivam Dube and Ajinkya Rahane, but it backfired. The collective failure of their experienced stars led to their downfall, but it hasn't pushed CSK to the verge of rethinking their tactical game.

"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," he added. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)