Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming threw his weight behind skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad despite another disappointing IPL campaign, saying the young captain is still evolving and will eventually become “a fine captain” for the franchise during a difficult transition period after the leadership era of MS Dhoni.
CSK’s playoff hopes were left hanging by a thread after a five-wicket loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday. The defeat means Chennai must beat Gujarat Titans in their final league game and rely on other results to go their way to stay alive in the tournament.
Backing the 29-year-old Gaikwad, Fleming said the opener was handling a difficult transition after taking over from one of the game’s greatest leaders.
“Ruturaj will be going through that as part of his development. It’s a big transition from having one of the best captains at the cricket scene running the franchise for such a long time to a new captain,” Fleming said.
“So it’s going to take a little bit of time. And he’s doing a good job. He has a massive amount of respect within this group of players. And he’s learning all the time and putting that into play.
“So going forward, I have no doubt he’ll be a fine captain for this franchise,” he added.
Gaikwad has endured a mixed season with the bat, scoring at an average of 29 with only two half-centuries in 13 matches. CSK, too, have struggled for consistency despite overhauling their squad following a disappointing 2025 season.
The franchise parted ways with several established names including Matheesha Pathirana, Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway, while bringing in younger attacking players such as Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre and Urvil Patel. CSK also strengthened their top order by signing Sanju Samson, a move that saw veterans Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran leave the side.
Fleming admitted the large-scale changes disrupted the team’s rhythm and left CSK trailing behind other franchises at the start of the season.
“Yeah, it’s been a challenge. We knew coming into the season we were a little bit behind in terms of other teams. We had made a lot of changes halfway through the first year of the cycle and then we made more changes going into this year,” Fleming said.
“It would have been great to have started well, but we started poorly and we just haven’t been accurate enough.”
Despite the setbacks, Fleming praised the side’s recovery and the emergence of several youngsters during the campaign.
“I was really proud of the recovery to get back into the mix. There were some good performances from players, these young players that have emerged,” he said.
The former New Zealand captain also pointed to injuries as a major factor behind CSK’s inconsistency, saying the team repeatedly had to alter combinations during the season.
“There was a style of cricket that we were developing that was working. But we had injuries to key players, which stopped a bit of momentum and made us unsettled in terms of having to keep changing the team,” Fleming explained.
He also revealed that Dhoni, despite not featuring in a single game due to a lingering calf strain, continued to play a major role behind the scenes.
“I know there’s been a lot of talk about it, but MS has been around a lot this year, which has been really important for the team, for a lot of young players in continuity. So he’s been a big part. He hasn’t played, but he’s still had a big influence on the team,” Fleming said.
On his own future after another underwhelming season, Fleming said the decision would ultimately rest with the franchise management.
“There’s a lot of good things we’ve done. We’ve introduced some new players that will hopefully be generation players for CSK, but I know we’re judged on results. So that’s a management call. Not mine,” he said.
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Source: India Today
