JOIN US“To come back from the bottom of the table and to be in the top-two at this stage is extremely exciting and satisfying,” the South African told newsmen on Saturday. “CSK is a good side, a balanced side, they have good players. It is one of the franchises that retained all four players and in the auction, they tried to buy back their old players so they have a culture going.” The Super Kings have won all seven matches at home but only two of six away. “I think it is going to be a tough week while having the Super Kings in that group (of teams that have made the play-offs) and also playing at home. That to me is the challenge. They obviously think they can win at home and not away. The challenge is to beat the Super Kings on their home turf (iun the play-offs), and that is interesting for me.”
Jennings indicated that skipper Daniel Vettori and Zaheer Khan, who both missed the last game, would play on the morrow. “Dan is a lot fresher,” Jennings observed. “He was away from home for 14 weeks and we sent him home to get his energy back as well as see his local surgeon (for his knee). He is a lot fresher now than when he arrived at the beginning of the IPL. He is fit enough to be ready for selection. “We also gave Zaheer a break and even he looks a lot more fresh now. There was the World Cup fatigue earlier and to me both of them – Vettori and Zaheer – are in a better space physically, mentally and technically than they were at the beginning of the IPL.”
All praise for the talent in the State, Jennings said the local players needed to be tougheer mentally. “The local talent in Karnataka is special, it’s a special group of people,” he remarked. “They are also respectful and hard-working players. The important thing is to make them mentally tougher. I see some of these players can’t handle the pressure. These guys think differently under pressure. “I don’t think you play enough pressure-cricket. A lot of cricket is played on flat wickets and there is not much pressure.
You’ve got to make sporting. You don’t do enough fielding under pressure so, when the pressure is there then you don’t take the catch. There is talent in India, but make that talent play under huge amount of pressure and then will you see the results.”