Former Hyderabad cricketer Tirumalasetti Suman revealed how MS Dhoni influenced the decision to appoint Zaheer Khan as CSK’s head coach for IPL 2027. Suman recalled that Dhoni rated Khan highly when he was the Indian team’s captain.

Dhoni even called Zaheer Khan the Sachin Tendulkar of Indian bowling. Khan had an impressive career, taking a total of 610 wickets across all formats. The former Indian pacer also took 21 wickets in nine matches of the 2011 ODI World Cup and played a key role in taking India to glory.

“Everyone was expecting a foreign coach. Brendon McCullum, Eoin Morgan. But no. It is an Indian coach. It is understandable that MS Dhoni’s influence is there behind this because he always rates Zaheer Khan very high. When he was the captain also, he used to say Zaheer is the Sachin Tendulkar of Indian bowling. He (Zaheer) is a very smart tactician. MS also has a very good relationship with Zaheer off the field. So that has definitely prompted this move,” Suman said in a video on his YouTube channel.

Suman said it is a good move from CSK to back Zaheer Khan as head coach. However, this would be the first time Khan would serve as a head coach of a franchise in the IPL.

The former Deccan Chargers player added, “It is a good move. Earlier, he was LSG’s mentor. We saw him before that as MI’s Director of Cricket as well and we saw their success. He is a very smart cricketer. I feel having an Indian coach in the IPL will help a team a lot because they have to understand domestic players really well. For example, Ashish Nehra was a surprising move when he was made GT coach, but he came back with results. I really love this move. It is a masterstroke. When we say MS thinks differently and out of the box, this is one of those moves. I see good results coming this year for CSK for sure,” he explained.

Zaheer Khan scalped 102 wickets in 100 IPL matches while playing for RCB, MI and DC.