'The hair on back of your neck stood up': Fleming reveals 'unexpected' MS Dhoni moment that 'really struck home' at CSK
Stephen Fleming spoke in detail about the ‘unexpected’ MS Dhoni moment as he returned to the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai.
The 2023 Indian Premier League auction took place last month, with all franchises bolstering their respective squads. For Chennai Super Kings, the auction saw the arrival of England star Ben Stokes as the franchise won the closely-fought bidding race against Lucknow Super Giants, spending INR 16.25 crore for his signature. The Super Kings had a poor outing in the 2022 edition of the tournament, with the side finishing 9th; the season also saw a back-and-forth in captaincy with MS Dhoni handing the role to Jadeja before taking over the captaincy again mid-way through the season.
As Chennai Super Kings prepare for a strong comeback in 2023, the side's official YouTube account posted a video of the franchise's head coach Stephen Fleming returning to the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai. The CSK haven't played at the venue since 2020 (the 2020 and 2021 editions were played in UAE due to Covid-19 pandemic, while the 2022 season was played in Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad).
Fleming spoke in detail about his experience as a player and now a head coach at Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk, and also revealed one of his favourite memories at the stadium.
“The noise is a part of it. You associate that with the game. It was actually practice day that really struck home to me when we came back in and MS came out to bat and it was something like 20,000 people for our homecoming. Just the excitement and that noise for a training, was something I haven't experienced before. It was really unique and I know a lot of players and a lot of people who took note of that,” Fleming said in the video.
The CSK also attached the clip from the moment, which Fleming called “unexpected,” adding that it gave him goosebumps.
“The hairs on the back of your neck stood up, It was unexpected. It was great to try and have the players training in that type of environment. It was real introduction back to our home ground,” said the CSK head coach.