Chennai: Four time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is facing increasing injury woes with skipper M S Dhoni nursing a knee injury and fast bowlers Sisanda Magara and Deepak Chahar being ruled out of action for two to three weeks, while Ben Stokes injury was being monitored daily.
Talking to reporters after CSK's narrow three run loss to Rajasthan Royals here last night on Dhoni's 200th appearance as CSK skipper, head coach Stephen Fleming said "We're operating on pretty thin resources".
"Dhoni is nursing a knee injury, which you can see in some of his movement, which is hindering him somewhat," Fleming said.
"But still what you saw is a great player for us. His fitness has always been very professional", he said.
Despite his knee troubles, Dhoni has been in excellent ball-striking form this season.
On Wednesday, he smashed an unbeaten 32 off 17 balls and took CSK's chase of 176 right down to the last ball.
Brushing aside any concerns about Dhoni's fitness, the former Kiwi batsman lauded him for the way he manages himself ahead of an IPL season.
"He comes a month before the tournament starts, so he doesn't get the opportunity to do a lot [before that]," Fleming said.
"He will stay fit, they will do some netting in Ranchi, but his main pre-season [fitness] is done a month before when he comes to Chennai. And he works his way back into match-form and I think you can still see he's playing pretty well. So we never have any doubts about the way he manages himself and he always gets himself up to speed", Fleming said. (UNI)