MS Dhoni never seems to be under any kind of pressure, says CSK coach Flemming

Chennai Super Kings had to taste defeat at the hands of Delhi Daredevils at Ferozeshah Kotla Ground on Tuesday. This was their second defeat in three matches, with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni flipping with his bat and captaincy once again. However, Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming feels that skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is "not under any kind of pressure".

"He never seems to be under any kind of pressure. Obviously, he has pressure but that he has been living with for quite some time now," Fleming said defending his skipper who has only scored 22 runs in three matches, out of which the team lost two, says a report in Indian Express.

"He has the desire to win like anybody else and it's known that he is talented. He is a key component in this set-up and everyone knows what happens when he performs," Flemming added.

Meanwhile, despite the stormy and rainy weather and it being a mid-week affair, the fans were more than keen to catch up on some T20 action at Ferozeshah Kotla on Tuesday. The Ferozshah Kotla hadn’t witnessed an encouraging turnout for long — not even Sachin Tendulkar’s batting had got in the numbers. So, the 35,000-strong turnout must have been a relief for the organisers, writes Hindustan Times.

“A delay due to rain is a dampener, especially when there’s a chance of the overs being curtailed. But it can also mean some extra time to spend at the stadium and watching the stars as they go about the drills. And more often than not, one gets a bonus or two too. Like for the crowd in the complimentary and VIP enclosures, having Suresh Raina, R Ashwin and AB de Villiers warm up in front of them was a treat. But Ravindra Jadeja decided to give them something more. He unleashed a cover drive that narrowly missed television anchor Shivani Dandekar to reach the boundary,” adds the report.

According to a report in The Times Of India, Laxmipathy Balaji credited Jacques Kallis and Brett Lee for their bowling performances, which he thought, helped him in picking up four wickets and lead Team Kolkata to a win over Team Bangalore here on Tuesday.

“One should give credit to Kallis and Lee for starting the game plan well. Kallis, in fact, got us the initial breakthrough helping our team in getting momentum ... that really helped my rhythm to pick four wickets,” he said. Balaji said the win was a huge psychological boost for the team.