Australia legend Matthew Hayden believes now that Stephen Fleming has left Chennai Super Kings, former India wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik should be looked at as a replacement for the Kiwi, who has since joined England as their Test head coach.
“It’s something that I really hope that the franchise gets right. Flemo did a fantastic job with MS Dhoni; that was really such a strong engine room of CSK,” Hayden told Sportstar.
“There are names that have been mentioned; one of them was Dinesh Karthik, who I think is probably ready to take on that kind of role. I think it’s important to have a local coach.
“I know that a lot of franchises do go for international coaches, but I feel like the head coach role of a franchise as big as CSK should have that kind of local touch, even Chennai touch, which is why I thought Dinesh would be perfect.
“You can certainly have support staff that aren’t local, but what a shift… [It was] such a beautiful campaign that MS and Flemm had. So much success, equal title holds with Mumbai [Indians], just such a good legacy, but it’s a bold and good move, and I’m looking forward to seeing who gets the job,” the big Aussie, who is currently with European T20 Premier League side Glasgow Cosmic as a co-owner and head coach, added. The inaugural edition of the ETPL starts on August 26.
No open admission of interest from Karthik yet!
It will be interesting to see if Karthik is also keen to take up the role. After his retirement, he has been a batting coach and mentor with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. His coming on board in those roles has been really fruitful for the franchise as they won back-to-back editions in 2025 and 2026, ending a long drought. Before that, they had not won the high-profile league even once.
Back in the day, Hayden also played for Chennai Super Kings and should have some kind of affection for the five-time IPL-winning franchise. His words carry a lot of weight. Rest assured, they are not going to fall on deaf ears. The only thing is whether or not Karthik has made up his mind for a new challenge. The reports are doing the rounds that he is interested, but there is no open admission of this from him.
