Khaleel Ahmed won’t be replaced, he has done a good job for CSK: Stephen Fleming

India Today

IPL 2025, RCB vs CSK: Chennai Super Kings' head coach Stephen Fleming backed Khaleel Ahmed after the fast bowler leaked 65 runs in his three overs against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Saturday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Transcript

00:00It sums up the season a little bit. It was a lot better performance though, but just

00:08a couple of areas where we lost concentration and they pounced in particular the last two

00:15overs of the fielding effort. And then we actually batted really well. It's been one

00:22of our struggles this year, but there were a couple of individual performances there

00:26that we're really proud of. It's early days, but we have been very impressed with one

00:39of his skills, right from when he trialled and was with us in the early part of the season.

00:46But more his temperament really. It's one thing to have a lot of shots, but to be able to execute

00:51that game plan on a big stage in front of some of the biggest players in the world is what

00:57I admire. And I think we have enjoyed a lot of the shot play from young players in this

01:03tournament and we're delighted that we've got one ourselves. So yes, excited about the

01:07future for them. I worry a little bit about the under 19 opposition that they'll come up

01:13against two pretty handy openers when the World Cup comes around. But it's amazing how much

01:18talent and how composed they are.

01:25Yeah. Tough luck. You still have the chairs under control for most of the time. And you

01:30feel at some point, like maybe 60 or maybe 60 or maybe 60 overs with still a bit of getting

01:35time. And overall, a bit more of his taking could have brought you home?

01:41Yeah. Is it a question or a statement?

01:48Yeah. It's pretty self-explanatory. If there was a big over there, we would have won. But

01:53they bowled well. We did well. We knew that there was going to be a steep climb towards

01:56the end, but we maintained a pretty good rate. And then when it came down to the business end,

02:01it was just one, one, two hits away. But yeah, we try and win it as quick as possible. And of course,

02:06we would have liked to have had a big over with ten overs to go, but it just didn't come about.

02:13Stephen, are you sure that was just brilliant tonight?

02:16He was.

02:17What was the last part, mate? Sorry.

02:18What made you pick him when Ushashbeke got injured? What is the situation behind you going

02:31for now?

02:32So what made you pick him when Ushashbeke got injured?

02:35Yeah, it was, I don't know, it's sometimes hard to explain, but there's just a quality around

02:40what he was doing. And as we talked about before, his composure, even at a trial at CSK,

02:47can be overpowering. But his composure was something that impressed me. And he's got talent.

02:55He's got hand-eye coordination. He's got a beautiful silky swing. He's aggressive.

03:00Everything that we like about a modern day T20 player. But to me, it's a temperament and being

03:06able to execute in a trial and then on the big stage. So that's what I'm most impressed

03:10with.

03:11Stephen, you've been an ideal for a very, very long time.

03:14It's actually hard to hear. It's just talk, mate. It'd be easier to put it here.

03:17I'm going to get off the mic. Stephen, you've been part of IP for a very long time.

03:21We have 17-year-old kids to go to show. And a few days ago, 14-year-old kids to go to show.

03:26Can you explain what makes these young kids, like just teenagers, coming on to the big stage

03:31and playing without fear and taking the best of the goals?

03:35Well, it's amazing, really. It's extraordinary to watch that fearless approach. But you've

03:42got to have skills as well. And to have the skills that these young players have and to

03:47be able to execute them against some of the best bowlers in the world is quite remarkable.

03:52It doesn't matter whether you're 14, 18, 21, the innings that we've seen be played, particularly

03:58by these two youngsters, is just top class. It shows maturity beyond their years, but it shows

04:04a skill set that is quite daunting, I think, for particularly bowlers around the world.

04:11Coach, on Mark again, how challenging is it for 17-year-old to join during the season when

04:18he is not exposed to the kind of pre-season prep that other youngsters can do?

04:23I guess it's probably something he would have to answer. We have a pretty relaxed camp, which

04:28has always been our style. He has some teammates on the side. Dube is one that has seen a fair

04:35bit of him. And again, it comes back to his maturity. He fitted in seamlessly. And it's

04:43often not what the team around him does, but it's just the way that he behaves. And he was

04:48very comfortable right from day one. And the team was very comfortable with him. And hopefully

04:52it's the start of a long relationship.

04:55Yeah.

04:56Coach, there was another moment there with the reward of Previs. Could you just explain

05:02what happened there with the run out and the ball going to the boundary? It all got lost

05:07there. There was no time runters which was getting displayed. And there was a bit of an argument

05:11going on as well to the players. And how crucial was that? Because Previs has been one of the,

05:18he hasn't striped the ball well.

05:20Yeah, it was a big moment. In talking to Jadu and Brevis, it was a lot going on with running

05:29straight away. And I think you saw the ball ricochet and actually went to the boundary for

05:33four. And lost in that was where the Brevis took the review in time. I don't know the answer

05:42to that. He wasn't sure given that they were running at the time. So as soon as you're given

05:46out, I understand the time starts. So there was a fair bit eaten up with the play still

05:50being completed. And whether that just ran out of time and the umpire's view it did.

05:55The other part about it, because he was given out, we wouldn't have got the runs. So while

05:59we would have maintained the wicket, it certainly wouldn't have given us the five runs, which

06:03would have been nice. But yeah, it's a big moment and a big game. There was twists and turns

06:07all the way through. It was a good game.

06:11Hi Coach. Why is that a couple of three runs? Because that was very crucial for the CSK 19th

06:17and 19th and 19th forward. Will it give you more points like a part of your experience in that

06:24two runs?

06:25Yeah, it's something we're still working on. Khalil has done it really well for us this season

06:32so far. So there's no reason for MS to have changed that. Kamboj is growing into his role

06:38nicely. He has the ability to do death and is working on that. So he will be an option

06:43going forward. But there was no reason why Khalil would be replaced to do that. He's done a

06:48pretty good job this season.

06:55Yeah, we're always looking. We've looked at a lot of young players this year. Given that

07:02our season has been a struggle, we are always looking to review and move forward. And part

07:07of that is to capture the next generation. We want to be a part of that. So we're working

07:11hard on that. We still value experience. If you look at the statistics of the tournament,

07:16you'll see a lot of the players that are featuring our experienced players. So it's the balance

07:21that we're after. So you're balancing that experience with the excitement of youth. And

07:25we've made some good gains in that.

07:27Thanks, buddy.

07:28Last one.

07:29From the power record for the franchise, you've seen a campaign for women. Personally, how

07:37was this season impacted you?

07:39It weighs heavy. We have high expectation and high expectation put on us. And everyone who's

07:45involved from the option through to the day to day training of the team is hurting. This

07:52is not what you plan for. You're looking at a little bit behind you, what we could have

07:59done better. And that's just natural. But we're also looking firmly ahead to make sure

08:04that we can make some gains over the next three games now, four games, three games, and be

08:11in a position that we can compete better next year. We have done this before. We have had

08:15a bad season and come back and won it. And that resonates really strongly with certainly

08:20the coaching group. But we've just got to make sure that any mistakes that we made or felt

08:25we made, that we rectify them in this short period of time, but more importantly, the time

08:30between here and the next IPL. It's a good challenge. And the gap between teams and the

08:36IPL is so small that it doesn't take much. It takes a bit of form here and there. And

08:41that can be enough to win you the IPL. So while it feels doom and gloom, we are unearthing some

08:48talent and getting some evidence together to put forward a good a good case for a good

08:53team next year. But we still want to finish the season well.

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