Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming admitted that the team has struggled to read the Chepauk pitch in recent years. Despite building a spin-heavy squad at the IPL 2025 auction, the surface appeared to favor seamers more than spinners during their second home game of the season. 

"Well, as we've been telling you for a number of years, there was no home advantage at Chepauk," Fleming said after CSK suffered their biggest defeat at home. "We've won away from home a couple of times. And we haven't been able to read… we've been really honest with you. We haven't been able to read the wickets here in the last couple of years. So, it's not new. We are trying to come to grips each day with what we get, and we don't know."

In IPL 2024, the Chepauk pitches did not favor spin, traditionally CSK’s strong suit. Fast bowlers dominated at the venue, taking 74 wickets, while spinners managed only 25 throughout the season. 

"It's not the Chepauk [of old] where you can just go in and play four spinners," Fleming said. "We're having to work really hard to try and understand what the nature of each pitch is, and it's quite different."

On Friday, Fleming anticipated that dew would set in and assist CSK’s chase. However, the conditions didn’t play out as expected, with the pitch slowing down even further in the second innings. As a result, CSK suffered a 50-run defeat. 

"No, we didn't get it right," Fleming said. "It's so hard to read, but we thought it was going to skid on with the dew, but it actually got a bit tacky. So, it certainly made it harder here."

When Fleming was asked if this batting approach was “his way of playing cricket,” he didn’t take it too well. The usually composed CSK coach showed a bit of frustration in his response, hinting that the team might be feeling the pressure.

"We talk about firepower, we have firepower all the way through," Fleming said. "I don't understand this question. Just because we don't swing from ball one and have a little bit of luck go away, we'll see at the end. Just see at the end who wins it. It's a positive brand of cricket, no doubt about it, but don't discount us."