Stephen Fleming
Stephen Fleming (Credits: BCCI)

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) coach Stephen Fleming heaped praise on Sam Curran, whose all-round show guided the yellow army to a victory over Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2020 opener. Sam Curran played in the game ahead of the experienced Dwayne Bravo, whose injury caused him to miss a game. By not forcing to miss Bravo, Stephen Fleming indicated at Curran’s exclusion even after the West Indian returns.

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Sam Curran had a role to play in the first three wickets to fall for Mumbai Indians after getting off to a positive start. The left-arm seamer made Quinton de Kock his victim and caught Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav off Piyush Chawla and Deepak Chahar’s bowling respectively. After finishing with figures of 4-0-28-1, the 22-year old played a cameo at number six that put Chennai in the driver’s seat in pursuit of 163.

Sam Curran
Sam Curran. Credits: Twitter

Stephen Fleming revealed that Dwayne Bravo arrived at the UAE injured and could probably sit out for a couple more games. However, Sam Curran’s performance has been very encouraging and justified his purchase in the auction. The three-time champions secured a five-wicket victory on the back of a 115-run stand between Ambati Rayudu and Faf Du Plessis after the openers stumbled cheaply.

We haven’t looked that far ahead, Bravo arrived here injured, so he is probably out the first couple of games. But Sam Curran’s performance is extremely positive and that is why we bought him in the auction,” Fleming stated as quoted by News18.

“We have to use our full squad if we want to be competitive” : Stephen Fleming

Stephen Fleming
Stephen Fleming (Credits: Twitter)

The former New Zealand skipper lauded Curran’s attitude, which has a significant part to play in his performance. Fleming added that if Bravo was fit for the first game, a toss-up between him and the English all-rounder was likely inevitable. Instead, the Northampton born cricketer has made a strong claim for his inclusion alongside Bravo moving forward.

His attitude is infectious and his performance today was outstanding. If Dwayne was fit, there would have been a toss up whether he played at all, so Curran has taken his opportunity but we may also have a look at playing both Curran and Bravo across different conditions in the UAE. We have to use our full squad if we want to be competitive,” he added.

Also Read: Watch: Lungi Ngidi Celebrates In Animated Manner After Sam Curran Dismisses His SA Teammate Quinton de Kock

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