IPL 2023: Stephen Fleming lauds Ravindra Jadeja after match-winning knock, says 'today he repaid that faith'

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has praised the efforts of Ravindra Jadeja after he helped Chennai Super Kings (CSK) win their fifth Indian Premier League (IPL) title in the wee hours of Tuesday. Jadeja, who has been in and out of both team India and CSK, has endured a tough 18-month period, where he also relinquished his captaincy of the franchise. Coach Fleming though, was full of praise for him and insisted that the faith was repaid.

Fleming's praise for Jadeja

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"They say there are no fairytales in sport but that was a pretty good one today," Fleming said, as he recalled Jadeja's topsy-turvy journey with CSK since IPL 2022.

"It's probably been a difficult 18 months where the captaincy was difficult. The injury was difficult. It took a bit of time for him to get out of the game and come reinvigorated in the Test game and then reintegrate into CSK.

"He plays a great role with the ball. But we've got so much firepower, that sometimes we use him lower down the order. But something had to give. And MS has been really supportive and proactive of getting him up there and today he repaid that faith," Fleming added.

With 13 runs required off the final over, Jadeja and Co were staring at defeat before he pulled off stunners on the final two balls. CSK needed 10 runs off thelast two balls when Jadeja scored a six and a four to add another trophy to his illustrious cabinet.

"The six, in particular, off a ball that was very close to perfect, was defining," Fleming said.

"And then a good left-hander hitting through fine leg was a great way to finish it. I couldn't be more happy for him. Yeah, there has been some frustration at times, but he is a gun player. He's a No.1 ranked player and today he delivered,” the former New Zealand skipper said.

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CSK equal record tally

The win at the Narendra Modi Stadium for CSK saw them equal Mumbai Indians' tally of five IPL titles. They remain the only team to win the IPL in three different decades having won the titles in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, and now in 2023. MS Dhoni is also the joint-most successful skipper in the history of the competition alongside Rohit Sharma with five titles while Ambati Rayudu also has six titles to equal the latter’s record.

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