Ajinkya Rahane dismissal exposes the middle order for RR, says CSK coach Fleming

One of the best things about IPL is that sometimes you can know about the skills and shortcomings of the opponent players more than you know of your own teammates. IPL has literally broken down the walls and barriers of cricket rivalry, and familiarity has bred mutual respect in this case. Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming makes that even clearer with what he has to say about Rajasthan captain Ajinkya Rahane.

Stephen Fleming and Ajinkya Rahane were on the same side for two years, as a coach and a key player respectively in Rising Pune Supergiants. This year, they are rivals, and CSK will go up against RR on Friday in Jaipur and play for cementing their berth in the playoffs. Fleming says that getting captain Rahane dismissed early on, multiplies their chances of restricting RR to a lower score.

‘Rajasthan in a good position if Rahane is batting’

“He is a fine player and doing a nice job of captaining Rajasthan. We need to get him out early because he can be a very good influence at the top of the order,” Fleming insists. According to Fleming, Rajasthan will be in a good position as long as Rahane is out there. He has quite an attacking batting, even though not always perceptible, and can turn the match around if stayed for the whole innings.

“He is more attacking than what we prefer, so is dangerous. He batted with some who are aggressive can be a constant threat through the innings,” he explains. The batsman at the other end always gets more flexibility with Rahane on the crease, but with him back to the dugout, the middle order will be exposed for the CSK bowlers to exploit.

“Removing him means it opens up the opportunity to expose the middle order. With him batting, others in the side get a little more freedom. Any time you get the captain early is good.” Along with being a regular opener, Rahane also had to shoulder the responsibility of captaincy this season, after SRH had to miss out on their original skipper, Steve Smith.

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