Stephen Fleming recalled an awkward flashback after Chennai Super Kings’ playoff hopes in the ongoing IPL 2025 virtually collapsed with a crushing five-wicket defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday, April 25.
Earlier in the ongoing IPL 2025, the Chennai Super Kings head coach, Stephen Fleming, had confidently claimed that patience and calculated cricket would outlast the carefree and high-risk strategies.
But after another painful loss, his bold statement that ‘we will see at the end who wins’ resurfaced, leading the coach to make another blistering remark on “unpredictable teams.
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Stephen Fleming’s bold words backfire as CSK’s IPL 2025 Playoffs dreams end
As CSK suffered its seventh defeat of this season, Fleming reflected on his belief that structured cricket would ultimately win out, as his team is struggling to match the energy and fearless approach of younger sides.
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However, the reality has been brutal for the five-time IPL champions, with their tactics brutally exposed by teams embracing a more aggressive, fearless brand of T20 cricket.
With CSK now virtually out of the IPL 2025 playoffs race, their head coach’s once-proud challenge to the new-age T20 style has turned into a humbling lesson. But Fleming said that he still believes in smart and percentage-based cricket, even though many teams are now playing risky games.
Stephen Fleming eager to see how new-age T20 technique fares in IPL 2025
Stephen Fleming said at the post-match presentation, “I’m a believer that the game hasn’t evolved that much. So, just trying to be smart and trying to be positive and give evidence that percentages still work.”
“But all around there is a bit of chaos, isn’t there, with teams playing well [by targeting boundaries and playing high-risk shots]? And I think I said it in a grumpy interview a few weeks ago that we’ll see towards the end of the tournament which team will come through.”
Stephen Fleming said that it is interesting to see fearless settled teams and young talents fighting hard in the ongoing IPL 2025 season with aggressive batting and bold moves, so he is eager to see which players and teams finish strong as the tournament moves ahead.
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Stephen Fleming added, “And it’s an intriguing watch to see settled sides and teams with younger sorts of flair battling it out and watching the cream rise. And I will watch with interest to see towards the end what the highest run-scorers are and what teams are doing well, because that’s part of the reflection as you move forward.”
‘I am a believer that the Game hasn’t evolved that much’ and Fleming talks about his interview where he said the dialogue ‘We will see at the end , who wins’ pic.twitter.com/y2IG8nRszq
— 🎰 (@StanMSD) April 26, 2025
Stephen Fleming admits CSK’s IPL 2025 Mega Auction failure
He admitted that CSK failed at the IPL 2025 mega auction but stressed that the ups and downs are part of the game. The head coach took responsibility for the poor season and asked the players to step up in the remaining games in the ongoing tournament.
The New Zealander has pointed out that the injuries, poor form, and too many changes were the main reasons behind the Men in Yellow’s failures, but noted that they may have been looking for fixes that weren’t really there this season.
Fleming signed off by saying, “Other teams have gotten better, and that’s the point of the auction. But we just haven’t been able to get it right. So, you take responsibility from the top down, and then you just ask a little bit more of the players.”
