Chennai Super Kings batting coach Michael Hussey has a lot of faith in the current squad even after their fifth consecutive defeat, vouching that the five-time champions possess the “right players” and are not surrendering the white flag yet. CSK collapsed to an ignominious eight-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders here on Friday after posting their lowest-ever score in the Chepauk at 103 for nine.
Batting Coach Michael Hussey Backs CSK
“I still think we’ve got the right players. We’ve just got to try and help them find some confidence and consistency and then hopefully we can sort of grow and build from that, whether that’s with the bat, ball or in the field,” Michael Hussey told the media after the match.
“There’s a lot of talk about the style of our play. But the players we’ve got, we don’t want to ask them to play in a completely different way; that’s natural to them.” said the CSK batting coach.
“They’ve got here to the IPL for playing really well in their way. I’m certainly not one to try and get them to play in a different way. They play at their best because that’s the way they play,” he added.
Michael Hussey On CSK Not Relying On Veterans Alone
Michael Hussey rejected claims CSK have loaded their side with players who are beyond their prime or are reluctant to support young guns. CSK’s middle order consists of India players Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Dube, Vijay Shankar and Deepak Hooda who have collectively failed this season.
“I would argue that they’re beyond their prime. I don’t agree with that. We’ve had players in the twilight of their career come and play at CSK in the past. I think of Shane Watson. I think of Ajinkya Rahane.” Hussey emphasized.
“They’ve performed really well for CSK. I still think that the players that we’ve got still have some good cricket in front of them and can offer us a lot. We can find their best and see some great performances from them.” Hussey said.
“With regards to youngsters, we want to pick guys when they’re ready to perform. We’ve got some very good players that are waiting for their chance. No question about that.” The batting coach on youngsters in the team.
“But sometimes when teams give up and think, ‘we can’t win the tournament anymore. Well, we’ll just try the youngsters now’. That’s what, we’re still here to try and progress in the tournament as far as we can. We’re certainly not putting the white flag up just yet,” Michael Hussey added.
CSK Still Hopeful of Making Top Four
The former Australia and CSK player said CSK hope to find their way into the top four and are ready to scrape for it.
“You only have to get into scraping to that fourth place. In a long tournament like the IPL, it is about momentum. Certainly the momentum is not with us at the moment whatsoever.”
“If we can change that momentum and get some confidence going and get a few wins on the board, the confidence will grow. You never know, we might be able to scrape into one of those last positions in the table come playoff time.”
CSK Must Stick Together and Not Panic
Hussey acknowledged CSK have been below-par in all three aspects of the game.
“We have certainly been below par in all three facets of the game. (But) we’re not out of it altogether. We’ve got to stick tight, identify the areas we can improve and just get back on that horse as quickly as we possibly can.”
“If we start to fracture, if we start to change things too much, which has certainly not been a CSK trait in the past, then things can go worse before they get better. We need to do a bit of soul searching.”
