Pune : Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batting coach Mike Hussey has conceded that the team cannot look “too far ahead”, given that the defending IPL champions have lost six of the nine games this season and are currently ninth on the points table, just above Mumbai Indians.
The four-time IPL champions’ campaign has floundered, chiefly because of the inconsistent batting at the top of the order, and they would be looking to put it across Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the MCA stadium here on Wednesday when the teams clash for the second time this IPL season.
Hussey, who is a long-timer with CSK — previously as a player and now as batting coach — would be eyeing a second win against RCB after winning the opening encounter against them in the ‘Southern Derby’ by 23 runs last month. CSK had then put 216 on the board.
And Hussey said that the best option left for the side was to try and focus on one game at a time, and see how things go from there. With the points table now starting to take a proper shape — Gujarat Titans are on 16 points, followed by Lucknow Super Giants on 14, Rajasthan Royals on 12, and three teams on 10 points — CSK are virtually in drop zone.
“We can’t look too far ahead. We’ve got to try and focus on the RCB game. Play as well as we possibly can. You can’t control the results. You can play your best cricket but the other team might be better on the day. We just gotta come in and bring our best performance. If it’s good enough on the day, I’m sure we’ll enjoy another win,” Hussey said.
The Australian praised the Ruturaj Gaikwad-Devon Conway partnership in the previous game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Gaikwad scored 99, while Conway struck an unbeaten 85.
“Any win’s always a real positive for the team. I was really pleased with the way the guys played. Obviously the opening partnership between Rutu (Gaikwad) and Conway was phenomenal. I think in the field, we had to work hard. We knew they were going to come hard at us and the guys held their nerves extremely well. I think it will give the guys a lot of confidence. Hopefully we can take that confidence into the next game,” Hussey told CSK TV.
“I think it’s probably the consistency of performance. Turning up and trying to do what we do well game after game. We’ve probably been good in various aspects in one game and not so good in the other. If we can gain that consistency over batting, bowling and fielding, obviously that will help our cause. Just keep trying to improve but try to do all aspects of the game a bit more consistently.”
Hussey also said that Ravindra Jadeja, who handed back the CSK captaincy to Mahendra Singh Dhoni after a string of losses, bowled well in the previous game.
“I thought he bowled really well in the last match. He understands what pace to bowl on these pitches. It started turning for him nicely. We know he’s such an accurate bowler. If the conditions are in his favour, which I think were the other night, you know the opposition team are going to have to respect him. If they don’t, he’s gonna come in and pick some wickets along the way. It’s a difficult situation for him and he handled it really well and maturely. Hopefully we see the best of Jaddu over the remaining games,” he added.
–IANS