Left-hander taking over: Zaheer Khan has been appointed as the head coach of CSK following the departure of Stephen Fleming

Zaheer Khan, MS Dhoni CSK NEW DELHI: Five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Monday appointed former India pacer Zaheer Khan as their head coach.“Left Arm ‘Takeover’! We welcome Zaheer Khan as Head Coach of Chennai Super Kings,” CSK said in a post on X.Zaheer Khan will take over as head coach of Chennai Super Kings from Stephen Fleming, who held the position from 2009 to 2026. CSK parted ways with Fleming after failing to make the playoffs for the third consecutive season.Zaheer played 92 Tests, 200 ODIs and 17 T20Is for India. During their victorious 2011 ODI World Cup campaign, he was the highest wicket-taker for India, taking 21 wickets.Since the IPL ended in 2017, Zaheer has worked with several teams. He represented three IPL teams, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals before joining MI as their Director of Cricket Operations ahead of the 2019 season. He later became head of global franchise development.Zaheer was appointed as the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants for IPL 2025 but left the franchise before the following season.As a player, Zaheer made 100 IPL appearances and took 102 wickets at an average of 27.27. He finished with 610 wickets across formats for India.