Former Indian Test opener Sadagopan Ramesh has questioned Chennai Super Kings’ management decision not to appoint a batting coach ahead of IPL 2027. The five-time champions recently parted ways with their former batting coach, Michael Hussey.
CSK have appointed Zaheer Khan as their new head coach after Stephen Fleming relinquished his duties. Mohit Sharma has been named as the new bowling coach whereas Albie Morkel and Gareth Batty have joined as assistant coaches.
The franchise has decided to retain Sridharan Sriram and James Foster.
“It’s not just a surprise but a shock that CSK are going in without a batting coach next year. More than being a surprise, I also feel this is strategically wrong. Everyone knows that CSK have struggled massively the last two years. But breaking down the numbers from the last two IPL seasons, CSK are actually in the top two for the lowest average runs conceded.”
“However, with the bat, they are bottom two for average team totals in the last two seasons (178). So it’s clear that CSK’s main issue has been the batting. Yet, they’ve fully loaded up on the bowling front in their coaching setup with Zaheer Khan, Mohit Sharma, Gareth Batty, and Albie Morkel, who is also a bowling all-rounder.”
The former flamboyant batter wondered if former CSK captain MS Dhoni would take on the onus of grooming the young batters.
“CSK have struggled the last two years even with Michael Hussey as batting coach, and yet they’ve opted to go with no one at the position when there are several young batters in the side. It also makes one wonder if Dhoni himself might be personally involved and groom the batters and youngsters like a mentor,” said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).
“It remains to be seen if CSK surprise us with such a move because it’s unclear whether Dhoni will return as a player. If something like that happens, then it’s superb for CSK. Otherwise, I feel CSK should have balanced their coaching hires instead of loading up on the bowling front.”
IPL 2027 auction will be held in mid-December in Goa.
