Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming is not only ruing the absence of Brendon McCullum from the batting line-up for IPL qualifier but also the fact that today's match is an away game for them

Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming is not only ruing the absence of Brendon McCullum from the batting line-up for IPL qualifier but also the fact that today's match is an away game for them.





Stephen Fleming

"Home and away games have become very important. People are becoming smart about the way they play at home. Teams doing well at home tend to have an advantage. You are finding that away games are more difficult.

That's a point for us to note that major semi-finals now have turned into home and away games. This makes it a little bit harder," said the former New Zealand captain.





Chennai Super Kings' Dwayne Bravo plays football during a training session at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble

"It's a tough game as now it becomes home and away rather than a semi-final at a neutral venue.



It's a difficult game and a tough place to win but that's what we are here for. We didn't expect an easy game in a play-off match and we have got a tough one," said Fleming.