IPL 2018: Stephen Fleming confirmed as Chennai Super Kings head coach

What's the story?

Back from having spent two years disbanded, the Chennai Super Kings are making giant inroads in their plans to get the winning formula back. After having retained MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja as the crux of their squad, CSK have officially reinstated Stephen Fleming as the head coach.

"We want to retain the entire support staff, with Fleming as the coach and Hussey as the batting coach," CSK's CEO, Kasi Viswanath, was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

In case you didn't know...

Fleming was part of the playing roster in the first edition of the IPL in 2008, with MS Dhoni as the captain and Kepler Wessels as the head coach. Fleming retired as a player the very next year, taking over the coaching reins from Wessels for the 2nd edition that was held entirely in South Africa.

Under his leadership, the side won the IPL title twice (2010 and 2011), in addition to the Champions League T20 in 2010 and 2014.

The heart of the matter

The newly-appointed CEO also told the same publication that they are planning to retain as much of the supporting staff as they possibly can. The franchise recently announced the selection of Michael Hussey as their batting coach, and followed it up by naming Lakshmipathy Balaji as their bowling coach.

The franchise also conceded that they would try to retain as many of the old CSK players as they could, but also admitted that it would be a difficult task considering other franchises' interest in the players as well.

What's next?

Fleming will preside over the auctions with batting coach Hussey, when the side vye for the top players in the mega auctions on January 27th and 28th.

Author's take

A level-headed coach who seems to know his players inside out, Fleming forged a hugely successful relationship with Dhoni, becoming one of the most successful coach-captain combinations in the tournament.

Knowing the workings of the Chennai franchise for eight years, and having worked with different people in scourging for local talent, Fleming is well-versed with the cricketing setup in the city and is the ideal choice to be at the helm of affairs.