Despite a flop show in IPL 2025, CSK will not throw out Stephen Fleming

People think Chennai Super Kings is just about one permanent fixture in the IPL, MS Dhoni. No, there is another character who has been with the Southern side since the inception of the IPL in 2008 – Stephen Fleming. Arguably one of the greatest cricket captains which New Zealand produced, the left-hander had led with flair. To feature in 111 Test and 280 ODIs, Fleming was a durable cricketer.

Now 52, Fleming has been with CSK since 2008, a season he was first there as a player. Since then, he has been a coach, barring the two years the team was banned over match fixing charges. If there is someone who knows CSK as well as Dhoni, it is Fleming.

This time, with CSK having done badly in the IPL, Fleming has spoken to the media. During the first four weeks, he had said the team needed to settle down. Now, he is talking of how stock-taking has to be done for the 2026 season of the IPL.

Not long ago, N.Srinivasan was the big boss of the IPL and CSK. Srini Mama, as people called him, had raised the CSK side passionately. With the passage of time, from Srini Mama, now it is Kashi Viswanathan, the CEO of CSK who lends a calm touch to the side. "We have not been performing up to the mark. We are trying to improve and will try do well in the next few games. We have never pressed the panic button in our franchise,” said the CEO. This kind of attitude is unique in the IPL, since many team owners and management are very fastidious about results.

One should not be surprised, despite losing a record number of matches at home in Chennai, if Stephen Fleming still continues as coach. There is a calm within the team, where Fleming also has never comes across as stern or harsh. The moot point is, will this work in the long run or Fleming has to himself make a course correction in the IPL. This year, whatever players were available, the team has used it up. Ayush Mhatre was the last card they could flash, but that has not worked.

For those who have seen the charisma of Dhoni and how he is still treated with respect by the CSK fans, they never lose cool. To show up at venues, be it home or away, they yellow brigade has been patient. And for those who think this is the last of Dhoni, never rule him out for one more season.

The way forward will depend not just on Dhoni but what strategy Stephen Fleming, Kasi and the others adopt. To go in with seasoned pros has not worked. How do they deal with it will indeed be interesting to watch. One has seen in teams like KKR and LSG, bosses have been brash and the captains have moved on in a huff. That, perhaps, will not happen with CSK, as it is old school.

If you have seen the corporate culture in old Madras-based companies, people spent almost three decades in the same office. They may have not made it too big, but loyalty has been important. Likewise, none in the CSK will say Fleming is finished. He has spoken at length on the CSK poor showing this time, on hits and misses, how players and plans did not click. What was indeed baffling, the lack of a chain of command in the team in terms of who could be the captain. People are slamming KKR for having spent a fortune on Venkatesh Iyer, However, in CSK, once Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out with an injury, there was no vice-captain who was elevated. They went back to a 43-year-old Dhoni. Was it a bold move or something which they thought would work nobody knows.

Fleming had addressed the media when Gaikwad became unfit and a decision had to be made.  The way Dhoni was asked to lead, there was no panic or worry if he could deliver. Likewise, one will never hear from the CSK corridors of power, they are planning to get rid of Fleming. He has been there for so long now they trust him to the core. Then again, this is not the first time CSK have come short in the IPL. The 2023 season was also a disaster. Maybe, in modern day concept of management as taught in MBA schools, Fleming has been unproductive. Not that CSK are fretting over it.