“Looking at this team now, it is a very young team. The excitement is there but at the same time, there’s a lot of difference between experienced players and inexperienced players. So, you have to allow them to make mistakes. You have to allow them to express themselves. You have to make sure that they are in a good headspace.”
“I mean, [there’s pressure to perform] from families, from the media, from team members, everyone [in the IPL],” Gaikwad said. “So to cope with that and to just get into that IPL performance mode, sometimes it takes time.
“You try and share your experience with them, [but] it should not make them cautious. It should not make them go into a negative frame of mind. Making their debut for a franchise like CSK – it’s a huge achievement for them. So, first thing is to enjoy it, embrace it and give your best, whatever it is there. If it happens, well and good; even if it does not happen, it is still a long journey for them. They’re still at the start of their careers. It’s just about managing what are their strengths, and just navigating them to be fearless and not have any doubts about it.”
Over the past few IPL seasons, both Stephen Fleming and Dhoni had expressed their displeasure with the conditions at Chepauk. The pitch stopped suiting their traditional strength – spin – and became a belter to bat on, as was the case during the recent T20 World Cup as well.
“Regarding pitches, I feel a lot depends here on the weather,” Gaikwad said. “Whatever World Cup games happened, they happened in the month of February. So, not much of dew or forecast about rain or cloudy weather as well. So, I think with the best weather and best conditions… the Chennai wicket usually plays really well.
“But, at night, sometimes, if there is excessive dew and a bit more moisture in the wicket, it tends to change a bit, especially the second half of the innings. So, not really sure about how it will go this year. We have to adapt accordingly and we have seven games. So, hopefully, whatever the [nature of the] pitch, we will try to make use of it however we can.”
