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!
{{/usCountry}}“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!
{{/usCountry}}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.