‘Come the final, now we don’t have to worry about what conditions we get’ – Stephen Fleming confident ahead of GT vs CSK final show

The stage is all set for the most important game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Final. It is going to be the four-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) up against the defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT). It will certainly be a brilliant clash as both teams have won the title previously.

Citing this, Stephen Fleming, head coach of CSK said that the team is very well prepared for their tenth final in the 14 seasons they have played in the IPL. Fleming spoke candidly on the anxiety that has crept in, despite all the discourse of serenity that surrounds CSK’s run-up to this IPL final. The 50-year-old also admitted to the fact that it is definitely a big occasion and it is certainly hard not to look ahead to the future and dream of winning the title again.

The former New Zealand captain also said that the excitement levels are high but the team is looking to stay in the present and tackle the challenges just like the way the team has done throughout the tournament. Despite participating in the finals most frequently in the history of the tournament, CSK haven’t exactly had the finest record in the final battle, winning just 4 out of 9 occasions.

“It’s a big occasion. The excitement levels, the nerves of the big stage, they just simmer away. It’s a good thing to have. It’s just how you work with your system. We have some good people around us and we look forward to this challenge,” Fleming said as quoted by Cricbuzz.

With the conditions at Chepauk not being the way that CSK would have liked, it even resulted in the four-time IPL champions losing their home games. Keeping this situation in mind, Fleming felt that the team is better prepared in playing at any condition given the condition that they have faced so far in the tournament.

“We geared ourselves up so well in Chennai that we did struggle a bit with different conditions at times in away games. This year, we are a bit more rounded. We had to be. Come the final, now we don’t have to worry about what conditions we get. We’re mentally at a lot better place than where we were in the past,” the former New Zealand skipper added.