Chennai coach Stephen Fleming is happy with Suresh Raina's captaincy though the team is waiting for MS Dhoni to return to action.

By Aditya Ramachandran

Chennai are on a high after two wins on the trot but they realise taking on a struggling Mohali will not be easy. Stephen Fleming spoke on a host of issues from Matthew Hayden's new bat to Raina's captaincy in the press conference on the eve of the match. Excerpts

On Hayden’s performance and the Mongoose bat that he used?

Stephen Fleming: I do not know the finer points of it. He has been using it in the nets with mixed success. It was to getting to know the feel of the bat. As for yesterday’s match, Hayden, right from the first ball that he faced, he was able to convert his shots pretty quickly than others could do. We are very happy.  He was telling us about the increased power that he could generate. It was a fine demonstration of the use of the bat yesterday. I guess the technology is to put the power on the bottom of the bat to the heading zone.  You will have to ask him about the technical jargon.

Was it because of the long handle of the bat that he was able to generate such trajectory after he hit the ball?

Fleming: Hayden has never been short of power. I do not know about the trajectory that he achieves out of power.  Not necessary long and hard but flat and powerful.  But from a coach’s point of view I was happy about his game yesterday.

How do you rate the match against Mohali tomorrow? And where you want?

Fleming: I am surely happy after winning two games. But we another eleven matches to go. We have experienced that one can go in to superb form and suddenly lose the momentum.  So, we are realistic about each challenge and each game.  Our interest is to make the top four in the first phase and that stage will be ideal to win the tournament.

Looks like Ashwin, Balaji, Albie Morkel and Muthiah Muralitharan have settled down well now. Who is your fifth bowler?

Fleming: We have got six bowlers. Justin Kemp has been used to a great deal. He has a lot to offer.  We are able to get the combination well.  We tried Joginder Sharma in Delhi but we in position to make a different call here in Chennai. What we are trying to do is to make the adjustments according to the pitch and then also get to know what the skipper wants.

How do you see Ashwin and Balaji’s performances in these three matches?

Fleming: They are doing extremely well. The bowling group is determined to give their best and they are doing superbly well.  During the last three games, all the bowlers have done well. Ashwin and Balaji have bowled to our expectations. They are good players and Balaji has got good experience at international levels. They are doing what I expected them to.

Compared to the last edition in South Africa, the par score has increased by about 20 runs. Has this reflected on the bowling too?

Fleming: T20 is a batsman’s game. It is challenging from the bowling point of view. What we have done is to improve our fielding to back up the bowlers. Justin Kemp’s catch on the sideways and Suresh Raina’s effort in the last over were prime examples. The turning point is that in the past Chennai has been strong in batting alone. Now you see the fielding unit effecting run outs and taking great catches and putting pressure on the opposition.  We realised that the bowling side of it is tough.

How is Dhoni's condition?

Fleming: We are in touch.  He is recovering slowly. The physio has asked him to be ready to bat in the Mumbai game, which is a week away. Dhoni will be seen by the physio well before that and we are hoping that he will be available for our matches starting with the one against Mumbai.

Were you happy with Raina’s performance on Friday as captain?

Fleming: We are all happy. I think, Raina is a superstar now.  His job was tough especially when you have to captain against Warner, Dilshan, Shewag, De velliers.  He handled himself very well. He was able to change things around.  We talked about it and he had the courage to bring the spinners on early in the match. He did a wonderful job with his bat. He finished the job well and you like the captain to do that.

Vijay is a top order batsman and you had sent him down the order. Was it a game plan?

Fleming:  Parthiv (Patel) really has to open. Vijay’s role is a bit more flexible. We planned to send him when things don’t go well. What Vijay did towards close was crucial for us.

Your assessment of the Mohali team and your plans to win Sunday’s tie?

Fleming: Mohali have lost three games. I think they are a dangerous side to face now. It is team that needs to win at this stage. We got to put them under pressure straight away and hopefully expose some lack of confidence which will come from losing those games.  We cannot be overconfident. We got to look in to our moments, bowling discipline and strong fielding efforts.

In our game on Friday, Delhi was very strong team on paper. It is the situation here in Chennai for Sunday's match and we should not slip up. We are determined to do well.