Former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan was appointed as the new Chennai Super Kings coach ahead of the IPL 2027 season. 47-year-old is set for his first foray as the head coach of an IPL side, having worked as a mentor before. He steps into Stephen Fleming’s shoes, who was in the dugout since the 2009 season.
Ravichandran Ashwin said that another former Indian star, Ashish Nehra, was also in conversation to take over the reins in the Chennai dugout. 40-year-old made these revelations on his YouTube channel. “There were conversations with many coaches. If I am not wrong, Nehra was also in the running at some stage, but he doesn’t have to leave Gujarat, where he is enjoying tremendous success.”
Nehra became the head coach of Gujarat Titans in 2022. GT won the title in their debut campaign. The team has also made it to the final in 2023 and 2026, and their worst finish was in 2024, when they were placed eighth in the points table.
Ashwin also said, “There were two other Indian legends and a few foreign names who were contacted, but things didn’t work out. The Reasons were different. Some didn’t want to take the one-year contract. In one case I know very well, the deal was as good as done, but the main thing was he couldn’t work franchises other than CSK, because of which he could have suffered financially.”
Hemang Badani, who is Delhi Capitals‘ coach, was one of the front-runners. The 49-year-old was a favourite to take the job, but the appointment of Albie Morkel as head coach of the Joburg Super Kings meant that the deal didn’t happen.
When Fleming was with the team, he was the head coach of CSK in the IPL, as well as Joburg in SA20, as well as Texas Super Kings in MLC. This year, the Men in Yellow finished last in the Major League Cricket points table. Such a poor finish saw the Kiwi legend and the franchise part ways in July 2026.
Aakash Chopra’s statement on Nehra and CSK
Ex-Indian batter Aakash Chopra, while speaking about Zaheer’s appointment as the new coach on his YouTube channel, said that the five-time winners wanted to emulate Titans’ strategy. “Chennai finally have an Indian coach. I feel Chennai saw the success Ashish Nehra had with Gujarat and wanted to try something on similar lines with the appointment of Zaheer, and I am hoping it turns the fortunes around.”