00:00Yeah, it's been a little bit difficult. Again, today we looked to shore up the top, bringing
00:06Conway back, but we just lost too many wickets, so it was a tough watch. It's a score that's
00:14probably around par, just above, and that's been the nature of our tournament so far.
00:19We haven't been too far away with the ball, but just unable to chase it down. It's a tough
00:25watch. We're certainly trying to get the combination right based on the quantity of runs we want
00:31at the top. We've had a dart with Tripathi with a bit of a licence, so we went back to
00:36looking for a bit more solidity, but again, it didn't work. It's only one game, but we'll
00:41just keep trying to get it right.
00:43Yeah, yeah, whatever. You're not doing something while it concerns me. That's the job. So we're
00:48looking to find the formula that will get us over the line. We're certainly well aware
00:53of that chasing stat. We are focusing still very hard on bowling-wise to restrict teams
01:00below that, but we do need to be better with the bat. There's no doubt about it. We need
01:04to have one or two players in form, predominantly the top three or four, and you look at the
01:09teams that are going well, you'll see that the majority of the runs are getting scored
01:12through there, through the top four. So we need a bit more production there, and that
01:16then allows the more power hitters or the players to finish off, to come in at the right
01:22spots. We're having to introduce players just not quite at the right time, and we've
01:28got Dubé as well, who's close, but just not quite getting the job done. So there are thereabouts,
01:34but sort of six to 20 to 15 run losses are annoying, yes.
01:41Steven, all of a sudden there are a lot of speculations about Dennis Looney's future in CSK, especially with his parents sitting there and watching. Would you like to put an end to that?
01:55No, that's not my role to put an end to it. I have no idea. I'm just enjoying working
02:01with him still. He's still going strong. I don't even ask these days, you guys are
02:10the ones that ask.
02:11You didn't get that one big over from 11-17, so the required run rate was 18-19. What was
02:27the reason? Was it damage, limitation or taking it as deep?
02:31No, the intent was that when he went out, a combination of a ball well, I think the
02:35ball started to grip a little bit more. We understood it was going to be good for the
02:38first half and then gradually get slower. So we were keen to bat and then take pace
02:44with the ball. They did it really well. Vijay Shankar struggled to get timing all the way
02:49through his innings. But that period from 12-16 was difficult for all. It was tough
02:55to watch and certainly tough to be out there. So the game was just slipping away. Even with
03:03intent and different methods to do it, it was just too big a scale.
03:07Is the team lacking to score in power playovers?
03:13Three down, which hurts. Teams have bowled well at us but we just haven't really got
03:19underway and that's different individuals at different times. So the question of Rutaraj,
03:25whether he goes back to open, will be one that we keep looking at. But the players that
03:29we had today, there's two quality international players that we put in to do that job. So
03:35we'll keep looking at that and make sure we are trying everything that we've got and
03:40training that way as well. But at the moment, it's only four games in, but at the moment
03:44we haven't got the run production that we want.
03:48Teams batting second seem to be losing on it. You have to change the approach or something.
03:53They seem to be in a rush to quickly get the score.
03:57We would have batted first today but we lost a toss. So that made it tough. You can't
04:02just go out and bat if we lose a toss. We would have loved to have batted. But it's
04:05a good point. It's a good point. We're not chasing well. We are succumbing to pressure.
04:11We're not getting partnerships at the top. So whenever you're chasing, ideally you get
04:15a good start at the top and then you're able to maintain the run rate that's close enough
04:22or get in a position where your power hitters can come out and finish. So we're a little
04:26bit behind the game after average power plays.
04:32You spoke about the balance in the team. Rachin started particularly well in the first game
04:36on a difficult pitch and in that little cameo he actually looked pretty good. There have
04:41been patches of play which have looked good, but how do you put it together and arrive
04:45at the right balance? Because you've used about seven players, so how do you arrive
04:50at the right balance?
04:52That is the conundrum at the moment. To get more solidity at the top, we have to remove
04:59an overseas player. So we're grappling just with the combination that we need. When it
05:04doesn't go right, we pore over it and analyse that to see if it was the right call. We felt
05:11that our batting in the power plays had been below par and going too hard was probably
05:16not the way, particularly on our wicket, which is a little bit tricky. So we're looking just
05:20to settle that with guys that have been in good form and have done it before. So that's
05:24the theory behind that and that's one we'll possibly continue with. But it just comes
05:28down to run production. You can have all the tactics you like, but if you've got a couple
05:32of players in form, they can cover for others. But at the moment, we're just not quite getting
05:40the big individual scores we need so that the cameos can do their part. We're getting
05:47starts but not quite enough.
05:50In IPL 2025, are the leagues using young players like Alphard players? They are doing very well. Will CSKA do the same pattern?
05:59Yeah, KL Rahul is not that young and he played the match-winning innings today. He was very
06:04good. So again, you know I'm a fan of experience. Big players traditionally will stand up during
06:10the tournament and when they do that, younger players can play the cameos. We've backed
06:15experience over the years and it's done us pretty well. We don't like young players but
06:20we like consistency and the ability to problem-solve and more experienced players tend to be able
06:27to do that more often. If you look at the games that have been played so far, there's
06:32usually a pretty steady hand with Battle Bull that's providing the leadership and the young
06:38players are doing bits and pieces here and there, which is good.
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