James Foster is set to join the Chennai Super Kings coaching staff for IPL 2026 under head coach Stephen Fleming. The former England wicketkeeper-batter has been appointed as CSK’s fielding coach as the franchise aims to bounce back from a bottom-place finish last season.
The 45-year-old represented England in seven Tests, 11 ODIs and five T20Is between 2001 and 2009, and is expected to take up his new role later this month. Foster previously served as the fielding coach of Kolkata Knight Riders and has also worked with franchises such as Desert Vipers, Northern Superchargers and Peshawar Zalmi.
“We have been looking for a fielding coach. I am hopeful he will join us,” said Kasi Viswanathan, CEO of the Super Kings franchise as quoted by Cricbuzz.
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Apart from head coach Stephen Fleming, the CSK support staff currently includes Mike Hussey as batting coach, Eric Simons as bowling coach, Sridharan Sriram as assistant bowling coach and Rajiv Kumar, who also serves as a fielding coach. Russell Radhakrishnan is the team manager.
CSK have recently begun a pre-season camp for their Indian players, with most of the domestic contingent, including MS Dhoni and Ayush Mhatre, in attendance. The squad has been training at the franchise’s high-performance centre in preparation for the upcoming season. Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, who are currently with the Indian team, are expected to join the camp later, along with Shreyas Gopal after completing his Ranji Trophy commitments.
Five-time champions CSK endured a disappointing campaign last season, finishing at the bottom of the table with just four wins from 14 matches. Determined to stage a strong comeback, the franchise has executed a blockbuster trade with Rajasthan Royals, regarded as one of the biggest moves in IPL history. In a surprising player swap, CSK traded Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran for Sanju Samson, who recently grabbed headlines with a match-winning unbeaten 97 against the West Indies to help India reach the semi-finals.
