West Indies are World T20 favourites: Fleming

CHENNAI: Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has overseen the rise of Chennai Super Kings as coach over the last four years. Currently in the city for the junior CSK T20 tournament and a three-day assessment camp ahead of the Champions League in October, Fleming had a chat with TOI on the forthcoming World T20 Championship and a whole host of issues. Excerpts...
The World T20 is just round the corner. Who are your favourites?
It's West Indies, without a shade of doubt. The kind of variety they have, I think it will be very tough to beat them in the T20 World Cup. When you have the likes of Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo in your lineup, you should fancy your chances.
What do you make of India's chances?
With the kind of batting they have, India are a very good side. But I think there are a few loopholes in the bowling. On the placid tracks of Lanka and in T20, the bowling can get exposed. I would like to see how the likes of Zaheer and R Ashwin rise to the occasion.
As coach, one of your biggest success stories has been R Aswhin. On the other hand, you have faced Harbhajan Singh on a number of occasions as a batsman. How do you compare the two?
Both of them are very skillful bowlers and it's difficult to choose one over the other. Harbhajan, at his prime, was devastating and what stands out is the fact that he has done so well for such a long period of time in Test cricket. Ashwin has been very good in T20s and ODIs, but given another year or so, he, too should become a very good Test bowler. I think India are really fortunate to get such great off-spinners back to back. In fact, it would be great to see them bowling together for a while.
Ravindra Jadeja was seen as a T20 superstar when CSK bought him. What went wrong with him?
It's true that he had a challenging year and that happens to cricketers of his age. Playing for India as well as CSK, he has often come down to bat late and has been in a bit of a hit-and-miss situation. But he is hard-working and once he identifies where he has gone wrong, I expect him to come back a better cricketer.
MS Dhoni, at times, looks more reactive than proactive. Your thoughts?
I haven't seen too much of MS as a captain in Tests, so I shouldn't make a judgment. But in the shorter format, I don't think he is reactive. In fact, at times while captaining CSK, he is a little too adventurous.