An IPL team with a County club culture: Gareth Batty is excited to join the CSK project

New Chennai Super Kings assistant coach Gareth Batty has explained what drew him to the Indian Premier League side. Speaking to TalkSport, the outgoing Surrey coach said it was the franchise’s cricketing culture that attracted him to the job.

Batty will join CSK for the 2027 IPL season after spending 21 years in association with Surrey, where he last served as head coach. He guided the club to three consecutive County Championship titles between 2022 and 2024, making him one of the most successful managers in English domestic cricket in recent years.

The 48-year-old said CSK’s tradition and continuity, particularly head coach Stephen Fleming’s long association with the franchise, played a role in his decision to move to India.

“To see it all come to a close, it’s an exciting time for a club or a franchise that has a tradition as a county club, or clubs that we find outside of franchise cricket. With Fleming having been there for so long and so on and so forth, it’s a bit of a headache,” Batty said.

However, the decision to leave Surrey was not easy for the Englishman, who admitted that he had to think carefully before accepting the offer.

“Even now, it doesn’t feel completely realistic that I’m leaving somewhere I’ve spent half my life. But when I thought about it and talked about it, especially with my family, the opportunity was just too big to turn down,” he added.

THE CHALLENGE OF ZAHEER KHAN

Batty revealed that the opportunity to join CSK came after Zaheer Khan was appointed as the head coach of the franchise. The former India fast bowler contacted Batty to inquire about his plans before offering him a place in the coaching staff.

“It was out of the blue. Zaheer Khan was appointed as the head coach of CSK and around the time he was appointed, he called me and said, ‘Look, what are you doing?'” Batty said.

The Englishman first told Zaheer that he was busy with his duties at Surrey. However, the prospect of joining CSK and working in the IPL finally convinced him to take up the challenge.

Batty will work as an assistant coach under Zaheer, but said the role will involve more than just his duties on the pitch. He is also looking forward to contributing to the development of the franchise as it enters a new phase.

“It’s an assistant coaching role, so of course he’s working under Zak. But it’s more than that, I suppose,” he said.

Batty added that the scope of the IPL and the opportunity to help shape CSK’s future were among the aspects that excited him about the move.

“It’s a bit of a fresh start for CSK, with a lot of things evolving a little bit. The enormity of what’s in front of me, I don’t quite know all the pieces. That’s the exciting part,” he said.

WAS BATTY SUCCESSFUL IN SURREY?

Batty took charge of Surrey in 2022 after retiring from professional cricket at the end of the previous season. He led the club to the County Championship in his first year and helped them retain it in 2023 and 2024.

Surrey finished as runners-up in 2025, ending a run of three consecutive titles under Batty. His departure marks the end of a long association with the club, where he played for several years before moving into coaching.

A former England international, Batty has represented his country in nine Tests, 10 ODIs and one T20 International. His last Test appearance came against India in Mohali in November 2016.

Batty said the prospect of a new challenge at this stage of his career was a major factor in accepting the CSK role.

“I think potentially at this point in my life it just looks like a challenge and the unknown is the exciting bits,” he said.

“When it all starts, you don’t know what it’s going to be and it’s a journey that excites me to be a part of something that can mean a huge amount to billions of people in a cricket-mad country.”

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