'Disturbed by allegations'

Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said on Saturday that the players and support staff have been disturbed by the allegations of spot-fixing surrounding the team and stressed that they had played all their matches to the best of their abilities.

Reading out from a prepared statement, Fleming began by apologising for the team cancelling its scheduled practice session due to rain. “Firstly apologies from the captain. The rain has kept the team back in the hole, and they are doing their preparation there,” he said.

The former New Zealand captain then proceeded to mention the controversies surrounding the CSK. “The players and support staff are distressed by the allegations and news reports considering the CSK franchise, the IPL and Indian cricket.

“We have played every match to the best of our ability, and we are very proud of our record of having appeared in the playoff of all of the six seasons of the IPL.

“The players and the support staff have no knowledge of either the betting or the separate spot-fixing allegations. As difficult as it is, all our focus is on appearing in the final tomorrow,” Fleming concluded. He didn’t take any questions on spot-fixing in the pre-match press conference.