IPL 2018 | We have to work extra hard to get home advantage, says Stephen Fleming

Chennai Super Kings were ousted from their home ground, after just playing one match on their home turf due to the ongoing Cauvery issue. Their adopted home Pune has been a mixed bag for them as they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad but lost to bottom-placed side Mumbai Indians. Fleming rightly pointed out that they had chosen their squad based on the Chennai pitch, which was much slower compared to the Pune pitch. Hence, Fleming rued the fact that his players will need time to get used to the Pune pitch. 

"We are going to be careful that we don't get carried away by the loss. The biggest thing for us is to get to know the pitch here, it is not Chennai. We picked the side which was going to be Chennai-based so we are learning as much as anyone," said Fleming after CSK lost by eight wickets to Mumbai Indians here last night.

"We have to work extra hard to get home advantage. We have learnt a little bit again today and we have only got a day to make sure we try and get the right combination." 

Batting first, CSK scored a below par score of 169, which was easily achieved by Mumbai Indians with two balls to spare. Fleming felt that they were 10-15 runs short of what could have been a winning total.

"We were in the fight. (But) we were probably 10 runs, maybe 15 runs short with the bat. But we hung in pretty well and created opportunities," Fleming said. 

Fleming credited the Mumbai bowlers who bowled very well to restrict the opposition to a score of 169 at the end of the innings. He also appreciated Rohit Sharma, who won the game quite convincingly for his team with a brilliant 56 off just 33 balls.  

"A score of 190 was a possibility, so for them (Mumbai) to bowl well and drag us back to 170 was good cricket. Another 10 (runs) would have been nice for us," the former New Zealand skipper said.

"He (Rohit) responded well in the 19th over and you are not going to win every game in the IPL. It was good game."

CSK were in the contest even in the end, when Mumbai required 22 of last two overs. However, Rohit decided to take the matters into his own hands and hit Shardul Thakur for four fours in the 19th over.  Fleming also informed that pacer Deepak Chahar, who suffered a hamstring injury, would be out for a couple of weeks.

"He (Chahar) has had hamstring injuries in the past so he has a good idea when he is in trouble. He will probably take a couple of weeks, which is a bit of blow to us," he said.