Adam Milne’s injury, Jordan’s tonsil infection compound team’s woes
It’s not every day that Chennai Super Kings fail to defend 210. That’s what happened on Thursday at the Brabourne Stadium against Lucknow Super Giants as CSK lost their second game in a row.
CSK’s bowling came under the scanner and the absence of Deepak Chahar, who is still recuperating from a quadricep tear, was keenly felt. The Rajasthan paceman is still in Bengaluru and it’s understood that he will be released from NCA in two weeks’ time.
Once released, he will join the CSK camp in Mumbai and if all goes well, the pacer should be ready by April 25 for the game against Punjab Kings.
While Chahar’s return is awaited, CSK also have a couple of fitness issues with their frontline pacers Adam Milne and Chris Jordan, which forced the management to field two rookies in Mukesh Choudhary and Tushar Deshpande on Thursday.
While Milne was injured after the first game against KKR on March 26, Jordan was admitted to a Mumbai hospital for six days due to a tonsil infection.
CSK’s hands were tied going into the game against Lucknow and that’s why they played only three foreigners. While Milne is unlikely to be fit for CSK’s game against Punjab Kings on Sunday, the management is hoping that Jordan would recover just in time for the crucial match.
Dube bowled because ground was like Niagara Falls, says Fleming
The one point that has come up for discussion was the team’s decision to bowl Shivam Dube in the 19th over on Thursday. Dube gave away 25 runs to turn the match in LSG‘s favour.
Most feel Ravindra Jadeja should have bowled one more over in the middle and the crucial 19th should have been left to either Bravo or Pretorius.
But coach Stephen Fleming argued that “spinners had been taken out of play quite early” due to the dew, which is creating havoc for teams.
“The ground was like Niagara Falls in terms of wetness. We always knew we had to squeeze one over. The decision in the middle was to bowl Dube but Lucknow, too, knew that over would be pivotal and did the job well,” Fleming said.
