Chennai Super Kings have appointed former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan as their new head coach ahead of IPL 2027, bringing a major change to the franchise’s coaching setup.
CSK announced the appointment on September 21, 2026. Zaheer takes charge following the departure of long-serving head coach Stephen Fleming, ending one of the longest coaching associations in IPL history.
Zaheer will now move into a head-coaching position after previously holding senior cricket and mentoring roles with Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants.
Zaheer Khan replaces Stephen Fleming at CSK
Stephen Fleming had been associated with Chennai Super Kings as head coach since 2009 and helped build the franchise into one of the IPL’s most successful teams.
CSK have won five IPL titles, and Fleming played a central role in the team’s long-term setup. Zaheer therefore inherits a considerably different responsibility from his previous IPL jobs, as he will now lead the overall coaching structure rather than operate as a director or mentor.
Reports around the appointment also state that CSK wanted an Indian coach for their next phase, with Zaheer eventually being selected for the job.
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How much coaching experience does Zaheer Khan have in the IPL?
One important point needs to be made about Zaheer Khan’s coaching record.
IPL 2027 will be Zaheer Khan’s first season as an IPL head coach.
He has extensive experience inside IPL management and coaching structures, but before the CSK appointment he had not officially served as the head coach of an IPL franchise.
His major IPL backroom roles include:
| Years | Team | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-2022 | Mumbai Indians | Director of Cricket Operations |
| From 2022 | MI global setup | Global Head of Cricket Development |
| 2025 | Lucknow Super Giants | Mentor |
| 2027 | Chennai Super Kings | Head Coach |
Mumbai Indians formally appointed Zaheer as Director of Cricket Operations in December 2018. In that role, he became part of the franchise’s cricketing think-tank and worked closely with the team’s management and playing group.
In September 2022, Mumbai Indians elevated him to Global Head of Cricket Development, with responsibilities covering player development, talent identification and development systems across the MI franchises.
How many IPL matches has Zaheer Khan worked in as part of coaching or management?
Calling all of these games “matches coached by Zaheer” would not be technically correct because he wasn’t the official head coach.
However, we can calculate the matches played by his IPL teams while he held senior cricket-management or mentoring roles.
Zaheer was Mumbai Indians’ Director of Cricket Operations across the 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 IPL seasons.
Mumbai played:
- 16 matches in IPL 2019
- 16 matches in IPL 2020
- 14 matches in IPL 2021
- 14 matches in IPL 2022
That gives 60 IPL matches during his four seasons as MI’s Director of Cricket Operations. Mumbai Indians also won consecutive IPL titles in 2019 and 2020 during this period.
Zaheer later became mentor of Lucknow Super Giants for IPL 2025. LSG played 14 matches, winning six and losing eight.
Therefore, before taking over at CSK, Zaheer had been involved in senior IPL team-management or mentoring roles across approximately 74 IPL matches:
Mumbai Indians: 60 matches
Lucknow Super Giants: 14 matches
Total: 74 matches
This should not be presented as a 74-match head-coaching record. His official IPL head-coaching record begins with Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2027.
Zaheer Khan’s successful period with Mumbai Indians
Zaheer’s time at Mumbai Indians provides CSK with one of the clearest examples of his experience inside a high-performing franchise.
He joined MI’s management ahead of IPL 2019, and Mumbai won the IPL championship in both 2019 and 2020. The franchise officially listed Zaheer as Director of Cricket Operations during this period.
His responsibilities went beyond specialist bowling coaching. He was involved with squad planning, player development, team preparation and cricket operations.
MI later expanded his responsibilities across its global teams by appointing him Global Head of Cricket Development. The role focused particularly on identifying and developing players across different competitions and countries.
Zaheer Khan’s record with Lucknow Super Giants
Zaheer joined Lucknow Super Giants as mentor ahead of IPL 2025 and worked alongside head coach Justin Langer and the rest of the support staff.
LSG finished the 2025 season with six wins from 14 matches. Zaheer’s role included strategic input and helping connect the playing group with franchise management, while his expertise with fast bowlers also made him an important part of the cricket setup.
His LSG stint lasted one season before the franchise subsequently restructured its coaching staff.
Has Zaheer Khan coached in the Ranji Trophy?
There is an important distinction here as well.
Zaheer Khan had a long domestic career and represented teams including Mumbai, but there is no established record of him serving as a full-time Ranji Trophy head coach before his CSK appointment.
He therefore does not have a Ranji Trophy head-coaching match tally comparable with experienced domestic coaches such as Chandrakant Pandit.
Zaheer’s post-playing career has instead been concentrated largely around IPL franchise management, mentoring, player development and cricket operations.
As a player, he did of course feature in domestic first-class cricket. The BCCI recorded, for example, that Zaheer used Ranji Trophy matches for Mumbai to regain match fitness before returning to international cricket.
So it would be inaccurate to claim that Zaheer has coached a specific number of Ranji Trophy matches unless a formal coaching appointment can be documented.
Zaheer Khan’s playing experience
Zaheer brings significant playing experience to Chennai.
He represented India in:
- 92 Test matches
- 200 ODIs
- 17 T20Is
He took 311 Test wickets and 282 ODI wickets, making him one of India’s leading left-arm fast bowlers.
Zaheer was also an important member of India’s 2011 ODI World Cup-winning squad.
His IPL playing career consisted of 100 matches and 102 wickets. He represented Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils during his IPL career.
His experience as both an international bowler and an IPL player gives CSK a coach who has worked in the tournament from multiple perspectives.
Zaheer Khan and MS Dhoni reunite at CSK
Another interesting aspect of the appointment is Zaheer’s long association with MS Dhoni during their India careers.
The two played together extensively for India, including during India’s successful 2011 World Cup campaign. Zaheer also has first-hand experience of competing against Dhoni-led CSK during his IPL playing career.
An IPL interview from 2015 highlighted Zaheer’s tactical thinking when discussing how bowlers needed clear plans while bowling to Dhoni.
Their familiarity could become important as CSK move into a new coaching era.
What Zaheer Khan brings to Chennai Super Kings
Zaheer’s biggest strength is likely to be his combination of fast-bowling knowledge, player development experience and franchise-management exposure.
His career after retirement has included working with young players, being part of auction and squad-planning structures, developing talent and holding senior decision-making roles.
For Chennai, his immediate responsibilities will be much wider than simply improving the bowling attack. As head coach, he will be responsible for helping shape the team’s overall cricket strategy, managing the support staff and preparing the squad for IPL 2027.
Zaheer Khan IPL coaching and management record
| Team | Period | Role | IPL matches during role* | Major result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai Indians | 2019-2022 | Director of Cricket Operations | 60 | IPL champions in 2019 & 2020 |
| Lucknow Super Giants | 2025 | Mentor | 14 | 6 wins, 8 losses |
| Chennai Super Kings | 2027- | Head Coach | Yet to begin | First IPL head-coach role |
A new era begins for CSK in IPL 2027
Zaheer Khan’s appointment represents a major change for Chennai Super Kings after years of stability under Stephen Fleming.
Although Zaheer has never previously been the official head coach of an IPL team, he enters the job with experience from around 74 IPL matches in senior management or mentoring positions, two championship seasons as part of the Mumbai Indians setup, and extensive experience in player development.
IPL 2027 will now mark the beginning of his first campaign as a full-time IPL head coach.
For CSK, it is the start of a new chapter. For Zaheer Khan, it is the biggest coaching responsibility of his career so far.
