Former NZ skipper and Coach of the newly suspended Chennai Super Kings, Stephen Fleming, expressed shock over the severity of the Justice Lodha verdict, by admitting that he is highly unsure of what the future has in stor for him as a coach and for his side. Chennai Super Kings have by far been the most successful IPL franchise, ever since its inception eight years ago.
The Coach was also quoted saying that the franchise players “will be fine” and “well looked after”.The team boasts of some of the biggest names in world cricket, like MS Dhoni, current New Zealand skipper Brendon Mccullum, and one of the best T20 all rounders and the crowd favorite West Indian Dwayne Bravo, in its roster.
The Supreme Court also went on to ban CSK official Gurunath Meiyappan from all cricket related activities for life for being involved in illegal betting during the IPL season in 2013.
“The franchise message was that, they were prepared for a punishment, but they are little surprised by the severity,” said the CSK team coach to stuff.co.nz.
“I don’t know how the franchise will respond and what options they will have to respond with”, he added.
“I’m still contracted but it is a case of wait and see,” he said. “There is so much to happen over the next few days, weeks, maybe even months. If the franchise waits out two years, does it include me or not. I don’t know. Just like the players, I am in limbo.” added the man, from Christchurch.
Fleming also said that the future of the players would not be hampered and they should be free to choose their own future in IPL cricket.
“The players are basically on year-to-year contracts and they can choose whether to accept a new contract or not. It is my understanding, that if Chennai wanted to keep them, they would have the choice of being retained or going back in the auction. You would imagine if the franchise wasn’t playing for two years the players would opt to go back into the auction. The players will be fine. They will be well looked after.” added the 42 year old.
On the phenomenon that was Gurunath Meiyappan, Fleming said that ” he was around the team a lot”.
“I got to know him over the years. This happened two-three years ago and when it all came out, it was a shock.”
Fleming also expressed his intent as a successful head coach of the side by reinstating that his side reached a high level of consistency in IPL cricket mainly because of the hard work put in by him and the other coaching staff like Andy Bichel.
“We have worked bloody hard with that team,” he said. “From the auction, to shaping a team with Steve Rixon and Andy Bichel, we have put a lot of time into making sure this franchise is successful, so to be on the backburner for two years or to see it go completely is disappointing. We are disappointed to find ourselves in this position through no fault of our own”, expressed Fleming over the dolefulness of the entire saga.
Edited by Aashna Bakshi
