Former New Zealand cricketer Scott Styris commended former Kiwi teammates Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum for their excellent coaching stints in the just-concluded Indian Premier League season (IPL).
During an appearance on The Devlin Radio Show, the cricketer-turned-commentator praised Fleming’s work with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
He also credited McCullum with the Kolkata Knight Riders‘ (KKR) stunning turnaround in IPL 2021’s UAE leg.
CSK and KKR, according to Styris, were the two teams that peaked at critical times. He claimed that during the playoffs, Chennai and Kolkata were at their best.
“They were the two teams that hit the ground running for the second half. They were the two teams who got to the backend of the playoffs, probably in the best form.” he sad
Styris remarked on how the Chennai to think tank took a risk by signing England all-rounder Moeen Ali and pushing him to No. 3 in the batting order.
The strategy paid off for MS Dhoni and his teammates, as they went on to win their fourth championship trophy.
Last year, CSK was the first side to be eliminated from the playoffs, according to the former cricketer. He believes that Fleming’s and the team’s management changes this season aided them in making a remarkable turnaround.
“You got to give them (Fleming and McCullum) a huge amount of credit. Chennai was the first official team to be knocked out last season. he said
“They made a couple of personnel changes, picked up Moeen Ali from England, and put him into number 3, which no one had seen it coming. It ended up being probably one of the reasons why they ended up winning the title,” Styris added.
Brendon McCullum
Styris lauded McCullum for fostering Venkatesh Iyer and using him at the perfect time in the tournament during KKR’s fairytale run in the UAE.
Both Kiwi coaches, he believes, were adept in finding flaws in their respective squads. According to Styris, they also did a fantastic job tactically in order to overcome the same.
“Brendon McCullum and Stephen Fleming did a terrific job in identifying possible weaknesses in their groups and then filling those by doing the right things strategically and tactically,” he said
CSK scored an impressive 192 to take an early lead over KKR in the summit battle. Kolkata openers Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer put together a fantastic top-order combo to get their team back into contention.
Read more: Scotland vs Papua New Guinea Prediction match in T20 World Cup 2021
Visit also: Scotland supporters interrupt Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah’s press conference: T20 World Cup 2021