Chennai Super Kings is one of the most successful franchises in the history of the competition. The team has won four trophies so far in the league. A few former players of the franchise have now become coaches. Some of them will operate for a different franchise in IPL 2022, which is set to start on March 26th. In this article, we take a look at four former Chennai Super Kings players who are part of other franchises as support staff.
Note: We have considered only former cricketers of CSK, who have played at least one game for the franchise. Hence, Hemang Badani, who was part of the CSK unit in IPL 2010 and is currently the fielding coach and scout of Sunrisers Hyderabad, will not feature in this list.
1) Brendon McCullum – Head Coach of Kolkata Knight Riders
Games for CSK: 28 || Runs: 841 || Strike Rate: 137.19
New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum is one of the former Chennai Super Kings players who are part of other franchises as support staff. The Kiwi played for CSK during 2014 and 2015 and had enjoyed cult support from the fans.
At the moment, he is the head coach of KKR. He led the team to the finals last year and impressed many with his tactics. However, there are a few issues in the squad construction for IPL 2022. Hence, it needs to be seen how he would perform in the forthcoming campaign.
2) Muttiah Muralitharan – Spin Bowling Coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad
Games for CSK: 40 || Wickets: 40 || Economy: 6.30
The highest wicket-taker in the history of the game, Muttiah Muralitharan, was part of CSK during the first three seasons of the competition. He had a fine run, winning a trophy, and collecting 40 wickets for the franchise.
Right now, the Sri Lankan legend is the spin bowling coach of SRH. He has held a role at SRH for a while now. In recent years, Rashid Khan had made the SRH spin attack one of the best in the competition. Now that he is not there, it will be interesting to see the performance of the franchise in this department. Washington Sundar will be the lead spinner for the franchise in IPL 2022.
3) Shane Watson – Assistant Coach at Delhi Capitals
Games for CSK: 43 || Runs: 1252 || Strike Rate: 136.38 || Wickets: 6
The Player of the Match in the final of IPL 2018, Shane Watson, was a part of CSK from 2018 to 2020. Despite a few shortcomings, Watson was backed and the Australian all-rounder delivered multiple times for the franchise. Before IPL 2021, Watson announced his retirement from all forms of the game.
While he took up commentary after his retirement, Watson has now taken up a role in cricket coaching. The former Rajasthan Royals cricketer will serve as Ricky Ponting’s assistant coach at Delhi Capitals. Watson will be joined by former India player Ajit Agarkar in the role, as well.
4) Ashish Nehra – Head Coach of Gujarat Titans
Games for CSK: 20 || Wickets: 30 || Economy: 7.68
Former India pacer Ashish Nehra was part of CSK in the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He was the lead pacer for the unit then and earned a comeback to Team India around that time.
While he later served as the bowling coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Delhi pacer is the current Head Coach of the newly formed Gujarat Titans. Nehra was called out for his tactics when he was in RCB. Now, he has a bigger responsibility and how he goes about will be one of the subplots in the league.
