Terming pacer Mukesh Chaudhary’s poor performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad as “tough baptism”, Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming asserted that the defending champions remain committed to support their players in search of “a new hero when short on firepower”.

CSK suffered a six-wicket defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday, their second loss of the season.

Playing for the first time in the season, Mukesh, who was brought in as an Impact Sub, bowled the second-most expensive over of IPL 2024, conceding 27 runs.

Handed the ball by skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad in the second over, the left-arm pacer, who was CSK’s highest wicket-taker with 16 scalps in 2022, faced the wrath of the in-form Abhishek Sharma (37 off 12 balls) who hit him for three sixes and two fours.

“We had a chance to introduce Mukesh Chaudhary today. He was good for us a while back. It wasn’t his day. But that’s part of the IPL,” Fleming said at the post-match press conference on Friday.

“It’s managing players, and when you do find yourself a little bit short on firepower, it’s finding the new hero. It didn’t happen today, but we put trust in the players that we introduced and they’ve been training well and doing the job. Tough baptism.

“The first five or six overs were the best to bat, and the aggressive way in which they played showed that,” he added.

CSK had to rejig their team as they were without the services of pacers Mustafizur Rahman, who is back in Bangladesh to fetch his visa for T20 World Cup later this year and young Matheesha Pathirana.

Fleming admitted they missed Rahman. “Without a doubt, it’s part of the IPL. He’s not here, so we can’t use him.”