Stephen Fleming Urges Realistic Expectations from Dhoni’s Captaincy
Stephen Fleming, the coach of the Chennai Super Kings, claimed that the squad was in “a lot of hurt” following their fifth straight loss, which sent them to the bottom of the IPL 2025 points standings with just two points. Despite winning their IPL opener, the Chennai Super Kings haven’t had much to celebrate this season. When CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of the IPL 2025 because of a damaged elbow, their season took a turn for the worse.
In order to get the team out of its predicament, CSK turned to franchise veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni while Gaikwad was out. However, Fleming has cautioned against having irrational expectations of Dhoni’s leadership.
During the pre-game news conference prior to the IPL 2025 match against the Lucknow Super Giants, Fleming stated, “His [Dhoni’s] influence will always be prominent but he’s not a soothsayer, he hasn’t got a magic wand.” He would have brought it out sooner if he could have just rubbed it over the side.
“It’s a matter of us working extremely hard in conjunction with MS to turn it around, and we’ve undoubtedly encountered situations in both of our cricketing careers that call for a lot of energy, and we have to make sure that the energy is directed in the proper direction.”
Fleming added that the team was in pain following their lackluster loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous match, in which CSK only managed to reach their lowest total in Chennai, 103 for 9. With eight wickets remaining, defending champion KKR reached the target in just 10.1 overs.
The CSK coach stated, “There are many hurts that we can use as motivation, but it’s not about words, it’s about players grabbing the moment, finding form, finding their groove, and almost shaking off any apprehension which can creep in.”
“We need to take it slow and just keep working to improve in all three areas before you start competing,” Fleming continued. “I think the lack of competition we displayed in the last game was particularly disappointing, and that hurt a lot.” There has undoubtedly been a great deal of introspection, but there has also been a great deal of work done on what we must do and how crucial it is that we perform in a way that reflects the proud franchise that we are.
