Mukesh Choudhary of the Chennai Superkings
Credit: PTI File Photo
Chennai: Chennai Super Kings bowling consultant Eric Simons on Sunday backed pacer Mukesh Choudhary to fire as the Indian Premier League progresses after he was taken to the cleaners by rival batters in his first match of the season.
The 27-year-old left-arm pacer played his first match of the season against SunRisers Hyderabad where he bowled only one over and was clobbered for 27 runs.
"We also look at the execution and not always at the outcome. He didn't bowl a bad over, except at some point where he could have changed his tactics when he got hit," Simons said ahead of his side's match against Kolkata Knight Riders.
"We have had some really positive conversations. When he started with us, he was off to a bad start, but we stuck to him because we knew what he could do."
"There were some tactical changes he made in his bowling. But trust me, it's going to be gold dust because he has done it before and will get the chance to do it again."
After winning the opening two clashes, CSK lost the subsequent two, which were away ties. The absence of pacers Mustafizur Rahman and Matheesha Pathirana also hurt the team.
Speaking about the Sri Lankan's availability, Simons said, 'The availability of the pacer for the encounter against touring KKR will be subject to the green flag from the team physio.
“It is a long tournament, and we want to be conservative with our decision-making around him. Whether he plays the next game or not will be determined by the physio.
“It shouldn’t be the case of risking four games for the sake of playing one. But, he is coming along very well.”
Rutu Gaikwad is quality player, he will come good----One of the key issues has been CSK's inability to get the opening partnership going, barring the second match.
Simons noted that although the pitch plays a role, the two openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra are still working on building a relationship.
"We had good starts in the first two games and not good ones in the following two. It's the nature of the pitch that we face," he reckoned.
"Also, they need to complement each other well, especially in sorts of building the relationship, which is still being built. Conway and Rutu took time to build that relationship."
Also, Simons brushed aside any concerns about new captain Gaikwad's slow start to the season, having managed only 88 in four matches.
"There's no early concern about what's going on. He's a quality cricketer. That's the nature of high-octane cricket; you have to go out there and play with confidence and a degree of risk-taking."
"It will come. He is calm, focused on what he wants to do," Simons added.
"We haven't been quick at adapting" ------- The IPL 2024 has seen the pacers take the approach of banging the ball short and taking the pace off, which has somewhat troubled the batters.
Analysing how to tackle the same, Simons asserted that it's up to the players to adapt to the situation as quickly as they can.
'It's interesting to see some teams go short against a batter like (Shivam) Dube while others go wide. So, he's gonna have to understand what teams are going to do to him and reckon what to do,' Simons said.
'The same goes for the bowlers. At some point, the knuckleball might work, and then the batter can change the scenario.
'So, a lot of analysis takes place, and both batters and the bowlers need to understand what the opposition is going to do against them and adapt it.
'We haven't been quick at adapting to it. But, that's the nature of the tournament and we need to find out solutions as to how to do it,' Simons signed off. PTI AYG PDS PDS