After their humiliating 50-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the 2025 Indian Premier League, head coach Stephen Fleming of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) said that his squad has been finding it difficult to comprehend the circumstances at Chepauk in previous years.

CSK was defeated by a wicket that suited seam bowling even though they had assembled a spin-heavy team at the auction. The circumstances were well exploited by RCB pacers Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who combined for figures of 7-0-41-4 to thwart CSK’s pursuit of 197.

Fleming commented, “Well, as we’ve been telling you for a number of years, there was no home advantage at Chepauk,” after CSK’s most significant home loss. “We’ve had a few victories away from home. We have been completely honest with you, but we haven’t been able to read. In recent years, we haven’t been able to read the wickets here. It is thus not new. We don’t know, but we’re trying to accept what we receive every day.

Once renowned for helping spinners, Chepauk has seen a significant change in personality. Pacers took 74 wickets at the venue in the 2024 Indian Premier League, while spinners only took 25. Even though CSK chose a lineup that was mostly focused on spin, the circumstances have not favored them.

“It’s not the Chepauk [of old] where you can just go in and play four spinners,” said Fleming. “We’re having to work really hard to try and understand what the nature of each pitch is, and it’s quite different.”

In the hopes that it would help their pursuit, CSK had bet on dew having a part in the second innings. But the surface merely became slower, making it harder to play with a stroke.

“No, we didn’t get it right,” Fleming said publicly. We expected it would slip on with the dew, but it actually became a little sticky. It’s very difficult to read. Thus, it undoubtedly made things more difficult here.

Once again, CSK’s meticulous hitting strategy—which emphasizes accumulating innings rather than spectacular starts—came under fire. Fleming, nevertheless, rebutted claims that the squad lacked firepower.

“We talk about firepower; we have firepower all the way through,” he said. “This question is unclear to me. We’ll find out in the end, even if we don’t swing from ball one and have some luck. Watch to discover who triumphs in the end. There is no denying that cricket is a great brand, but don’t undervalue us.