Ahead of his side’s away match against Punjab Kings (PBKS), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) assistant bowling coach Sridharan Sriram defended the team’s shambolic show in its first few matches, saying that it is not happening for the first time and some teams take time to find their combination and roles.

After two thumping away wins, PBKS’s home season started on a poor note with a loss to Rajasthan Royals. Their next challenge at home on Tuesday will be five-time champions CSK, who are currently struggling and are at ninth spot with a win and three losses. Whether the disappointing performances of their openers, their middle-order delivering inconsistent performances or MS Dhoni not being able to finish off matches on the right side, CSK has a lot to fix, especially in their batting.
Speaking ahead of the match, Sriram said during the pre-match presser, ” I think this is not the first time any team is going through this. Some teams get off to a good start and some teams take their own time to find their combinations and their roles, so I think it is still very early stages, we will take it one day at a time and then plan for the next opposition more than anything else.”
He also said that “there is no fixed batting order”. “So, I think it is for the coach and the captain to deliberate and come up with what’s best for the team and the opposition and the condition,” he added as quoted by CSK’s official website.
Sriram said that the team is doing pretty well as a bowling unit, saying, “We have restricted teams to 180, which is, I think, par score in modern day cricket. So, I think from the bowling point of view, we are doing pretty well.”
He also expressed faith in team’s lead spinners, Noor Ahmed, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, saying that irrespective of the surface or opponent, they are good enough to adapt and challenge their opponent.
“So, we are not too worried about what has happened before. It is just about how we plan and how we execute and how we go with the conditions on that day,” he concluded.
Squads:
Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Praveen Dubey, Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Josh Inglis, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kuldeep Sen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash
Chennai Super Kings Squad: Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Jamie Overton, Shaik Rasheed, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Gopal, Sam Curran, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Andre Siddarth C, Vansh Bedi.-ANI