IPL 2020: Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming hails Sam Curran's attitude

Bengaluru, Sept. 21: Sam Curran’s all-round show in Chennai Super Kings’ Indian Premier League (IPL) opener against the Mumbai Indians left CSK head coach Stephen Fleming impressed with the debutants' show.

Fleming told the CSK website that Curran’s contribution in the opener helped the team cover the absence of star all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.

The 22-year-old England cricketer put up a clinical show during CSK’s five-wicket win over defending champions Mumbai on Saturday. While the youngster impressed with the ball in the first innings, he scored a quick-fire 18 off just six balls to help CSK get off to a winning start.

"Losing Dwayne (Bravo) was a big loss and Sam went a long way in filling that," Fleming told the CSK website on Tuesday.

Speaking ahead of their IPL match against Rajasthan Royals in Sharjah, "The things that impressed us with Sam is his attitude first and foremost, almost the harder it gets the better he gets, his all-round skill component and the fact that the captain was able to trust him straightaway to go in at a crucial time and hit the way he did."

Fleming further added, "Also with the ball, to be a part of it straightaway, almost stepping straight off the plane was a sign of his attitude and what he is going to bring to CSK for the next few years."

The former Kiwi skipper said Bravo was recovering well and Curran's performance meant they don't have to rush him back. "Bravo is progressing, we are working closely to get him up to 100 percent. We've got three quick games in a row, so we'll look at each game and monitor him each time we train.

"With Sam's performance, it takes a bit of pressure off rushing Bravo back, but he's one of the world's best and to have him in the selection equation is very important to us," Fleming said.

Fleming said it was great to get the opening win against Mumbai Indians, "It was great to get the points, two teams that were a little bit nervous after not having played for some time. It was always going to be almost a case of who was going to make the least mistakes.

"The way Mumbai started, aggressively against us, it was going to be a tough day. The pleasing thing for us was our character, we held our nerve and as the innings went on our bowlers got better and better."

CSK were reduced to 2 for 6 in two overs during their chase but Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis resurrected the innings with a 115-run partnership. "When we batted we got set back with some good seam bowling, but our composure and our experience was again very good and we fought back into the innings and got ourselves into a match-winning position that we were able to finish off," Fleming said.

Talking about the two blinders taken by du Plessis on the boundary line, the coach said: "It's about taking the opportunities. We try and get our best fielders in the hotspots, and Faf's been one of those for us for a number of years.

"Those catches were very timely and very important, we can't afford to let go of those and give the opposition a second chance," signed off Fleming.

Source: (With inputs from PTI)