IPL 2025 CSK vs SRH | Hard to say we got the auction strategy right: CSK coach Fleming

Stephen Fleming reflects on Chennai Super Kings' struggles in IPL 2025 due to auction strategy errors and team performance.

Head coach Stephen Fleming opened up about Chennai Super Kings’ dismal IPL 2025 season, saying the team probably got its auction strategy wrong.

“It’s hard to say that we’ve got it [auction strategy] completely right. We have been looking in detail at our performances and our style of play. We are also looking at how the game is evolving, and it’s not easy. That’s why we’re proud of our [overall] record. We’ve been able to be consistent for so long, and it doesn’t take much for it to go the other way,” said Fleming after CSK’s five-wicket loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday.

“The other teams have got better... that’s the point of the auction. But we just haven’t been able to get it right and you have to take responsibility from the top down. You then just ask a little bit more from the players,” he added.

“The auction has to be an area where we need to reflect upon and say it wasn’t as good as it could have been... it hasn’t worked out how we wanted, but it’s also not rocket science.

“The auction is a very different beast... it’s like buying 25 houses and you come away from it mentally and, sometimes, physically exhausted. To be fair, I still think we’ve got a good squad and we’re not far away.

“We have had a couple of key injuries, a bit of lack of form and struggled to nail a gameplan. We have chopped and changed too much, trying to look for something that was not there”.