Chennai, April 12 Chennai Super Kings batting coach Mike Hussey is still hopeful of change of fortunes for the five-time champions in the IPL 2025 season and making to the playoffs despite losing five matches in a row.
CSK are enduring their worst IPL campaign as it is the first time they lost five games on the trot in the tournament's history. Adding to it, the eight-wicket defeat against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday was their third in a row at Chepauk in a season - which has also happened for the first time.
"We are certainly not putting the white flag up just yet. You only have to get in to scrape into that fourth place. And a big, long tournament like the IPL, it is about momentum," Hussey said in the post-match press conference.
"Now, certainly the momentum is not with us at the moment whatsoever. We haven't been playing good cricket consistently. We definitely acknowledge that, put our hands up and say that that is fact at the moment. But that's not to say things can't turn around and can't turn around quickly. So, that's what we're still hanging on to, and that's what we're working hard towards. And if we can change that momentum and get some confidence going and get a few wins on the board, the confidence will grow and you never know," he added.
Chennai Super Kings have been one of the most successful teams in the history of the tournament. However, their fortunes took a dip last season. Under Ruturaj Gaikwad's captaincy, CSK stayed in contention for a playoff spot but narrowly missed out after losing their final group stage match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Hussey emphasised that the team needs to first believe in themselves and then stay united to turn things around this season. At present, CSK sit in 9th place on the points table, just ahead of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
"We might be able to scrape into one of those last positions in the table come playoffs time. And it's a long way ahead, and we certainly need to change things around. But we still believe that we can do that," Hussey said.
"This is where it's a time that we've got to really stick tight together, keep working really hard, keep working on the things that we think are really important.
"I mean, there's a lot of talk about the style of our play and things like that, but the players we've got, we don't want to ask them to play in a completely different way from what's natural to them. They've got here to the IPL for playing really well in their way, and I'm certainly not one to try and get them to play in a different way," concluded the former Australian cricketer," he added.
CSK will next take on Lucknow Super Giants in a away fixture on Monday.
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