Albie Morkel, Mohit Sharma and Gareth Batty appointed CSK assistant coaches

Albie Morkel, Gareth Batty and Mohit Sharma are set to join Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as assistant coaches ahead of IPL 2027. They will be under new head coach Zaheer Khan in a major backroom rejig following Stephen Fleming's appointment as England's men's head coach in Tests.

Several senior coaches who have been part of the CSK family for at least decade or more have also parted ways with the franchise, including batting coach Mike Hussey and bowling coach Eric Simons, along with Greg King (strength and conditioning coach) and Tommy Simsek (physiotherapist).

Those continuing from last season include assistant bowling coach Sridharan Sriram and fielding coach James Foster, who also has a position with the England team. Also continuing is AR Srikanth, one of the senior officials at CSK.

Morkel, the former South Africa allrounder, has a long association with CSK, having represented the franchise from the inaugural IPL season in 2008 until 2013. He scored 827 runs and picked up 76 wickets in 78 games for CSK, before going on to play for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rising Pune Supergiant.

In SA20, Morkel has been part of the Joburg Super Kings set-up, owned by the same group, since the league's inception, and was recently appointed head coach of the franchise following Fleming's departure.

Mohit, meanwhile, played four seasons for CSK between IPL 2013 and 2019, taking 58 wickets in 48 matches. He also played for CSK in the Champions League T20. Mohit represented Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), DC and Gujarat Titans in the IPL too. In 2023, he finished as GT's second-highest wicket-taker, helping them reach the final, where they lost to CSK. He retired from all forms of cricket in December 2025.

Batty, the former England offspinner, has been part of Surrey's set-up since 2021, and coached them to three consecutive Championship titles before their second-placed finish last year. He served as assistant coach of Oval Invincibles in the men's Hundred in 2025 before taking up a role with MI London this year.

CSK appointed Zaheer after parting ways with Fleming, who had been in the role for 16 years. CSK managing director Kasi Viswanathan had earlier said Zaheer would be given the freedom to pick "his own coaching staff".

Fleming has replaced Brendon McCullum in the England Test job, and he has Foster and Simons in his staff. Hussey had said in August that he too was open to joining Fleming but would take his time before deciding whether to accept the offer.