'It still hurts us' - Head Coach Stephen Fleming regrets on lost opportunity to retain KKR star after CSK's 6-wicket loss

Stephen Fleming (Source: Twitter)

The mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy made his debut for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2020 and since then he has been instrumental in their victories. The Tamil Nadu player, along with spin wizard Sunil Narine, is continuing to dominate the middle overs, providing crucial breakthroughs. Chakravarthy is having a fantastic outing in the ongoing Indian Premier League, snapping 19 wickets from 13 matches and ranking sixth on the list of leading wicket-takers.

The right-arm spinner played a vital role in KKR's six-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday. Playing his first game at the Chepauk Stadium, Chakravarthy drew CSK's first blood by dismissing Ruturaj Gaikwad and claimed his second wicket of the night by dismissing Ajinkya Rahane. After losing the final home match of IPL 2023, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming regretted the lost opportunity to retain their former net bowler.

Chakravarthy was CSK's net bowler for a few years and while there, he troubled the batters including captain MS Dhoni. "It still hurts us (missing out on Varun). He tortured us in the nets for a number of years. Just with the auctions, the way it is, we couldn't retain him," Fleming said in the post-match press conference of the CSK vs KKR encounter.

"The thing is with Tamil Nadu players all round in different teams, they knew about him as well. We were unable to keep him a secret. We were very excited by him as a talent when he bowled against us in the nets. And we would have loved him for a big price this year. He bowled very well today, he's a weapon."

I don't think we got the conditions right: Fleming after CSK's loss to KKR

A brilliant performance by the KKR bowlers restricted CSK to their lowest score of the season (144). KKR got off to a poor start in the chase but Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh put on an outstanding 99-run partnership to cross the finish line with nine balls to spare. Speaking after their loss, Fleming said they did not read the conditions correctly.

"I don't think we got the conditions right, last game turned out to be considerably tough to bat. This one actually had a spongy bounce to start and then pretty much lost a bit of sting as the game went on.

"Pretty difficult to try and work out what the surfaces are going to do with the dew. I said the whole way through, we're still learning these new conditions," the former New Zealand cricketer added.